The University of the Visayas (UV) and the University of San Carlos (USC) forged a championship collision in the under-12 division after beating separate semifinal foes in contrasting fashion yesterday in the M. Lhuillier-Cebu Youth Basketball League Goodwill Games at the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu in Canduman, Mandaue City.
UV repelled the visiting Ateneo de Iloilo in overtime, 64-61, while USC crushed hosts Ateneo de Cebu with a 20-point beatdown, 63-43.
For a moment, AdI had the Baby Lancers on the ropes as they led, 52-50, late in regulation. But Cris Alilin rescued UV from the jaws of defeat with a basket to send the game to the extra session. There, UV took control and led, 61-59, before the visitors sliced it down to one, 61-62, 30 seconds left.
UV sealed the victory behind free-throws from Alilin and Franc Gabunanda. Alilin led UV with 17 points while Ian Espinosa led AdI with 22.
The other semis pairing wasn’t even close from the get-go as USC imposed its will early on and led, 15-4 after the opening period. The Baby Warriors ballooned their advantage to 27-12 at halftime and cruised to the easy win.
In the Passerelle division, USC remains unbeaten in Group B with a 6-0 win-loss mark while the University of San Jose-Recoletos is at second at 5-1. Group A though, is an entirely different story with three teams sharing the top spot with similar 5-1 cards after the elimination round.
However in the end, AdI took the top spot with a quotient of 1.038 while UV got the other semis ticket with their quotient of 1.00. Ateneo de Cebu missed out on the semis after finishing with a 0.93.