Webmasters score over Cobras anew

The University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters of coach Roel Gomez took advantage of an inbound error by the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras to steal an 87-85 victory behind the buzzer-beating shot of Christian Rez in an exhibition match last Saturday at the air-conditioned Danao Civic Center.

The Cobras blew another good chance of winning as they led all the way except for that lazy and pressured-packed sideline inbound they committed only to lose everything including the P5,000 cash prize.

The Cobras, who settled for P3,000, showed better chance of winning as they managed to take an eight-point lead, 74-66, but with over six minutes left in the fourth quarter, enough for UC to stage a comeback.

Known for their trapping defense and quick transition offense, the Webmasters scored a 7-0 run to erase the lead of the Cobras with just a little over two minutes left in the contest.

A crucial basket by Raffy Flanco, which was ruled out only as two-pointer for having stepped the 3-point stripe, revitalized UC’s lost energy as he tied the count at 85-all with only 17 seconds remaining.

In their last ball possession, though, the Cobras fainted in their inbound pass just across their bench, which UC capitalized with Rez hitting the winning shot a few steps below the foul line just as the final horn sounded.

Rez, having a knee injury last year and missing the entire CESAFI season, topscored for UC with 21 points. Playing minus defensive guard Jared Kane Abatayo and offguard Zaldy Mamalias, the Webmasters executed their multi-faceted trappping defense successfully with some rookies in their lineup.

Rez was backed up by Allain Abellanosa in the scoring cudgels with 15 points while Flanco had 13 points and Janssen Abella and Jonathan Canceran had 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Lloyd Poligrates, the darling of the crowd who hails from Poro, Camotes, led the Cobras with 13 points along with Ardeveen Jhango.

Clifford Maguate and Mariano Canonigo had 10 points each for the Cobras.

The Danao game was made possible through the efforts of Danao City Sports Commission headed by councilor Oscar "Boying" Rodriguez in cooperation with the La Fortuna Bakery and La Fortuna Hotel owner Lorenzo "Chao" Sy. Backing up Sy were Jagna, Bohol councilor bet Hermes Sumalinog, Sr. and veteran referee Jose "Boy" Murillo.

The scores:

UC (87) — Rez 21, Abellanosa 15, Flanco 13, Abella 12, Canceran 10, Ceniza 6, Mohamad 3, Luceño 2, Ramos 2

SWU (85) — Poligrates 13, Jhango 13, Maguate 10, Canonigo 10, Litorja 8, Giangchand 7, Velayo 6, Zanoria 5, Tilaf 5, Jalandoni 2, Ceniza 2 — (GGM)