Cameroonian Shooster Olago of USC fakes off UV Steve Akomo in yesterday’s Cesafi semis game at the Cebu Coliseum.
CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON
Warriors pull off 79-75 OT win over UV Green Lancers
The University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors earned the chance to set right the wrongs of last year as they barged into the finals of the 15th Cesafi men’s basketball tournament with a scintillating 79-75 overtime victory over the hard-fighting University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers Thursday night at the rip-roaring Cebu Coliseum.
In a game full of twists and turns and heroic rhetoric from the two best teams of the league, it was the Warriors who finally came away with the win, thanks to the big-time shots of their big-time frontcourt of Cameroonian Shooster Olago and Charles Pepito, with the former completing a three-point play that gave them the lead for good and the latter making a circus layup seconds later to put the hard-earned victory in the bag.
The game was tied at 74-all when Olago broke free for a driving layup while getting fouled by his UV counterpart, Steve Akomo. He later made the bonus freethrow to push USC in front, 77-74, with 43.6 seconds left.
After the Lancers failed to convert on their possession, Pepito hammered the final nail in UV’s coffin with an acrobatic lay-in that sent the crowd roaring in celebration.
The win was USC’s second in a row in the round-robin semifinals, thereby assuring them of a seat in the best-of-five finals regardless of the result of their final game versus the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars tomorrow.
The Warriors are making their second trip in a row to the finals after losing in a thrilling five-game series to the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras last season.
Pepito cashed in another double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds while Olago dialled up the same, canning 19 points and 10 rebounds along with four blocks and two steals. Ian Tagapan also had 14 markers.
COBRAS
ELIMINATED
But while the Warriors’ story continues to unfold, last night saw the Cobras’ title reign come to an end after they were outclassed by the Jaguars, 75-81, suffering their second loss in as many games.
The Jaguars, on the other hand, kept their aspirations of making it to the finals alive, as rookie Jaybie Mantilla, athletic forward RJ Dinolan and wily pivot Kevin Villafranca all sank crucial buckets down the stretch to sink the Cobras.
Undermanned and all, the Cobras gave it their all and pulled to within two, 68-70, after two free-throws by Juju Bautista. But Mantilla, a crafty guard who hails from Pasil, came off a screen and sank a pull-up jumper from the keyhole for a 72-68 lead. On the Jaguars’ next offensive, Dinolan added a short jumper to push their lead to six, with 1:24 to go.
The Cobras pulled to within 73-76 after a spinning layup by Bautista. But the Jaguars responded with a well-executed inbound play that got Villafranca free and open for an uncontested lay-up to raise the lead to five, 78-73, 21.2 ticks left.