Arvie Cabanero of UV and Shooster Olago of USC collide in midair during a rebound play in Game 1 of the Cesafi seniors’ finals at the Cebu Coliseum.
CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON
The University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors flirted with disaster before pulling off a 76-70 victory over the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers to draw first blood in Game 1 of the best-of-five championship series in the 15th Cesafi men’s basketball tournament on Sunday at the Cebu Coliseum.
The Warriors led by 17, 72-55, with 3:40 to go as they assaulted the Green Lancers’ perimeter defense with one timely three-point bomb after another capped by one from Ian Ortega.
But hurried shots, careless turnovers and a dry spell from the line by their Cameroonian reinforcement, Shooster Olago, opened the door for UV, which came as close as four in the dying seconds before the Olago redeemed himself with three makes from the line and a huge steal to curb the Lancers’ uprising for good.
Olago finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds while Ian Ortega, who is relishing the chance of being back in the finals after missing the team’s championship stint last season because of a knee injury, scored 11. Ian Tagapan and Charles Pepito added 10 each with the latter grabbing seven rebounds in spite of a badly injured wrist.
As many expected, the match was intensely fought with the Green Lancers riding the razzle-dazzle show of Jun Manzo in an 11-1 run to go up, 26-18. But USC was bullish, responding with a 13-2 blast of its own – eight points coming from Olago – to seize the upper hand, 36-32, at halftime.
The Warriors eventually raised the lead to 10, 45-35, after a transition bucket by Ortega and pushed it all the way to 17 behind back-to-back triples from the same left corner by Tagapan and Ortega.
Manzo scored 21 points to pace UV who’s bidding for their 11th title in 15 seasons in the Cesafi. Akomo finished with 16 points and eight boards.
Meanwhile in the opener, the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars grabbed third place with a thrilling 77-74 win over the ousted champions, Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras.
Rookie guard Jaybie Mantilla once again made his mark as he scored a three-pointer with 1:25 left that put the Jaguars in front for good.
Aside from the third-place trophy, USJ-R also earned a place in the Visayas qualifiers in this year’s Philippine Collegiate Champions League.