Baby Panthers good for third
Second-seed University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers last night escaped with an 86-83 victory over topseed University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors to finish third in the secondary division of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) 7th basketball season at the jampacked Cebu Coliseum.
As of press time, the winner-take-all semifinal game between defending champion University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers and the
The championship games in both the seniors and juniors division will start on Saturday with a new format. The seniors division will be a best-of-five affair; the juniors a best-of-three.
The Baby Panthers took the half with a slim 42-40 advantage. They protected their lead and were in control of the ballgame until some lapses in the end game that allowed USC to claw within 83-86. USC’s rookie Bryan Negapatan, however, missed a triple that could have sent the game into an extra period.
By finishing fourth, the Baby Warriors wasted what was shaping up to be its best season. They started the season playing with a lot of aplomb, topping the elimination round, only to squander a twice-to-beat advantage in the semifinals against the UV Baby Lancers.
USPF relied on Henry Jaime Babiera and Dennis Ferraren who scored 19 points apiece. Babiera had many unstoppable low-post moves while Ferraren provided the outside snipping. Epraim Elorde added 13 markers and Rey Michael Cabatingan chipped in 10 points for USPF.
Kim Jordan Nuñeza broke out from his season-long scoring drought and topscored for the Baby Warriors with 15 points while Delos Santos scored 10 points.
The scores:
USPF (Jrs.) 86 - Babiera 19, Ferraren 19, Elorde 13, Cabatingan 10, Bordalba 8, Dela Cruz 7, Unabia 4, Cañete 2, Misa 2, Escanilla 2
USC (Jrs.) 83 - Nuñeza 15, Delos Santos 10, Negapatan 9, Santos 9, Carbon 7, Alocillo 6, Saberon 6, Tiu 6, Uy 6, Otida 4, Omolon 3, Adlawan 2 Halftime: 42-40
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