Games Tuesday:
Cebu Coliseum
5 p.m. – UV vs USJ-R (Srs.)
6:30 p.m. – SWU vs USC (Srs.)
FOR ALL the adversity that the final four teams have faced in the painstaking double round-robin elimination round, it will be nothing compared to what’s to come in the semifinals.
Which is why traditional powerhouse squads Southwestern University (SWU), University of San Carlos (USC), University of the Visayas (UV) and the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) brace for the worst as the Final Four of the 15th Cesafi men’s basketball tournament starts today at the Cebu Coliseum.
The UV Green Lancers, owners of the top seed, kick things off at 5 p.m. when they tangle with the USJ-R Jaguars, who made the last bus to this round with an emphatic 73-53 win over the University of Cebu (UC) during the final day of the elimination round.
Then at 6:30 p.m., the tremendously-undermanned SWU Cobras battle old nemesis, the USC Warriors, in the latest chapter of their burgeoning rivalry, whose roots stem from their thrilling championship series last year.
The Cobras, with their numbers reduced to eight following the severe ankle sprain that was suffered by their prolific power forward Juju Bautista in their last outing versus UV, will be massive underdogs in today’s match-up, even after winning over USC in their previous encounter, 79-77, on a buzzer-beating triple by John Lloyd Luz.
The presence of USC sentinels Shooster Olago and Charles Pepito is expected to give SWU headaches inside, especially with the Cobras left with just Melvin Holper and untested young guns Kier Clam and Toto Gonzaga manning the lane.
USC head coach Britt Reroma is hoping that his wards have learned their lesson from their last encounter with the Cobras, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
“We focus on defensive effort because we had a lot of defensive lapses last time,” said the former mentor of the San Beda Red Cubs.
The top two teams at the end of this round-robin semis will advance to the best-of-five finals, which starts next Tuesday.