Jaguars reach semis in Partner's Cup hoop

The Ave Maria Sanctuary Park/USJ-R Jaguars scored a 74-64 victory over the Aerosol/USC Warriors to claim the first semifinal spot in the 3rd CESAFI Partners' Cup the other night at the Cordova Sports Complex in Cordova, Cebu.

Games tomorrow (Cebu Coliseum)

4 pm Hotel Fortuna/SWU vs. Virginia/CIT

5:30 pm Enervon/UC vs. R. Lapid's/DBTC

7pm Prime Asia/UV vs. CDO Idol/USFP

Three more quarterfinal matches will be played tomorrow, with the top three teams enjoying twice-to-beat advantage.

The Jaguars brandished a multi-faceted offense as they did not resort into field shooting.

They relied on the leadership of veteran Ranulfo Malinao, who thrived with his 14 points at the paint, while the tandem of pointguards Armand Ponce and Edmar Pateno provided the razzle-dazzle offense as they finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

 The Warriors were led by Giovanni Padillo with 15 points while Sam Jordan Hermosa added 13 points. The Jaguars checked USC's big men Joven Cid Cortes and Robert Giners Codilla at the paint and succeeded in dragging away Ryan Carlo Padayao from his comfort zone which is the three-point area.

While Cortes chipped in 10 points, Padayao scored only five, while Codilla was held to a matchstick.

The scores

Ave Maria/USJ-R (74) - Malinao 14, Ponce 11, Pateno 10, Amores 9, Llera 9, Delfino 8, Bibera 5, Villaver 4, Duran 3

Aerosol/USC (64) - Padillo 15, Hermosa 13, Cortes 10, Bakker 9, Padayao 5, Blanes 4. Joven 3, Gallarde 3, Codilla 1. – GGM (THE FREEMAN)