BAYUGAN City, Agusan del Sur—They played like a headless chicken when they settled for one-on-one plays and took ill-advised shots in almost every possession.
As a result, the 7A’s University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars absorbed a second straight defeat as they lost badly to the Jimberns Builders-San Beda Red Lions, 76-94, yesterday in the Mayor Kim Lope A. Asis 1st Collegiate Invitational Basketball Tournament at the Lope Asis Memorial Gymnasium here.
Though they were manned by their Team B players, it was the Lions who showed great chemistry and played unselfish basketball to seize control from the opening tip till the final buzzer.
Settling for outside shots and missing most of them, the Jaguars couldn’t make a serious run and went on to drop another game after starting the tournament with a 53-68 defeat to the reigning UAAP champions Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamarawas last Sunday.
The Madjaw Construction-backed Tamaraws, on the other hand, pocketed a second straight by trashing the Bayugan LGU-Holy Trinity College Wildcats, 98-60, in the second of yesterday’s morning games.
While struggling to get their offense going, the Jaguars also miserably failed to contain San Beda’s 20-year-old Nigerian reinforcement Euegene Toba. The six-foot-nine Toba punished the Jaguars with his game-high 27 markers as he and Cebuano forward JB Bahio effectively manned the paint for the Red Lions.
The six-foot-five Cadet Gilas member Bahio, a former University of Southern Philippines Foundation Baby Panther, finished with seven points.