UV Green Lancers players singing their school hymn after completing a 10-0 record in the Cesafi men’s basketball tournament. | CDN Digital photo / Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers topped the elimination round of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) Season 23 men’s basketball tournament with a perfect 10-0 (win-loss) record.
The Green Lancers, the men’s basketball defending champions, dominated the elimination round to clinch the top spot of the 11-team men’s division standings after beating the University of Southern Philippines Foundation, 70-54, on Sunday evening at the Cebu Coliseum.
UV will head to the semifinals with a twice-to-beat advantage and will face the No. 4 seed, the University of San Jose-Recolletos (USJ-R) Jaguars, on December 5.
This will be a repeat of the 2022 semifinals round with UV outlasting USJ-R in a rubber match. USJ-R erased UV’s twice-to-beat advantage last season by winning the first game,80-78.
However, UV came back and booked a ticket to the finals with a 64-51 win against USJ-R.
This year, they will rekindle their rivalry in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, USPF locked in for the No. 3 spot despite the loss. They will try to upset the No. 2 team and twice-to-beat foe, the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters on December 7.
During their game on Sunday, UV was leading from start to finish in their last elimination round game against USPF.
Despite the odds, the Panthers, put up a good fight in the first half, with UV leading only by 2, 29-27, in the second period.
However, the Green Lancers proved too much for the Panthers in terms of firepower as the former slowly pulled away and went on to build a commanding 12-point cushion, 43-31, in halftime.
UV maintained their double-digit lead in the second half. They entered the final 10 minutes of the game with a 15-point lead, 55-40, and stretched it to a staggering 20-point lead, 68-48, with two minutes left to seal their win.
Mindanao natives’ Kent Ivo Salarda and King Harvie Orcullo paced UV with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Team captain Jim Paul Amistoso and Paul John Taliman combined for 14 points.
USPF’s Ian Paquibot finished with eight points, while Winston Bingil Jr. had seven points.
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