USC tames USP anew

Lady luck smiled anew at the University of San Carlos Warriors as they scored a repeat over the University of Southern Philippines Foundation Panthers, 68-65, to move closer to their semifinal dream in the 5th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball season on Sunday night at the USC gym.

Games today
(Tabunok)
(women's)
4 pm CIT vs. USJ-R
(juniors)
5:30 pm USP vs. USJ-R
(seniors)
7 pm USP vs. USJ-R

The Baby Warriors, meanwhile, avenged their 75-82 loss to the Baby Panthers last Thursday with a 77-50 demolition. The largest lead by the Baby Warriors stood at 38 points, 67-29, at the final five-minute mark of the game.

Earlier, defending champion University of the Visayas Baby Lancers bounced back from a huge upset by the CIT Wildkittens last Saturday and trampled on the Don Bosco Greywolves, 79-45. Coincidentally, the Warriors also defeated the Panthers in their first round meeting by a three-point margin, 84-81, last September 1 at the USP gym.

It was another wasted opportunity for the Panthers, who now suffered their worst CESAFI season with a four-game losing spill dating back on August 23 with a homecourt loss to UC, 95-106. They suffered a record-low loss to UV, 58-93, last August 30 and then endured back-to-back setbacks to USC in just a span of three days. With an improved 4-2 win-loss record, the Warriors are now smelling the aroma of a semifinals celebration for the first team.

Big man Enrico Llanto split his crucial charities to give the Warriors a 66-65 edge with only 18.7 seconds left in the ballgame, but they heaved a sigh of relief when Arlow Jueves sank his own gift shots for a 68-65 USC advantage with 14.2 seconds remaining.

Llanto amassed 25 points for the Warriors, while Niño Ramirez and Mark Loyola had 14 and 13 points, respectively.

The Panthers, who now have a 2-4 win-loss record, were led by graduating forward Elvis Labares with 15 points, while rookie offguard Moncrift Rodago finished with 13 points.

In the secondary division, Johh Rafael Flanco scored 15 points, while Adrian Alforque followed with 13 points and Jake Arriesgado had 12 points for the USC Baby Warriors.

On the other hand, Patrick Avila led the Baby Lancers with 19 points, while Phil Mercader had 16 points and Edrian Lao 13.