UV victorious but Slaughter suspended

CEBU, Philippines - Fil-Am giant Gregory Slaughter paid dearly for reacting too much to an unsportsmanlike foul that caused his banishment from the hardcourt in the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers’ 79-65 victory over the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers in last Tuesday’s game of the 9th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball season marred by a commotion from the gallery at the Cebu Coliseum.

Games on Sunday (Cebu Coliseum)

1 pm UC vs. USJ-R (Jrs.)

2:30 pm SHS-J vs. DBTC (Jrs.)

4 pm CIT vs. DBTC (Srs.)

5:30 pm UV vs. SWU (Srs.)

For that, Slaughter was slapped with an automatic one-game suspension he will serve in their game against the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras tomorrow.

 The ugly hardcourt drama unfolded when Panther pointguard Jordan Bardilas hammered Slaughter to foil him while on the way up for an undergoal stab with 37.7 seconds left in the game and the Lancers ahead by a dozen points,77-65.

Slaughter didn’t like the foul more so to the immediate members of his family and reacted by bumping Bardilas on the chest. He was immediately whistled for a technical foul for unsportsmanlike behavior.

Since it was his second technical in the tournament, he was ejected from them game.

Right after Slaughter sank his free throws for a 79-65 UV lead, trouble erupted as Slaughter’s uncle Toto Fuentes figured in a fistfight with coliseum guard Danny Reynes, who suffered a minor bruise on his left chin after being hit by a monoblock chair. Fuentes was escorted outside by two uniformed policemen, while Reynes reported the incident to the police station.

For Slaughter who was impatient of the pesky defense, the foul was uncalled for as Bardilas and the Panthers believed it was a duty foul to thwart the shot. Slaughter should have not reacted too much as victory was in their bag already. The 6-foot-11 behemoth finished with 10 points.

Chris Victor Diputado paced the Lancers with 15 markers followed by Christian Rez with 11 as they regained the second spot with an improved 4-1 win-loss record. The Panthers crashed to their fifth straight defeat in six stars.

Earlier, Francisco Arong, Jr, exploded with 23 points and Gerald Legarde and Glennson Ybañez connived for 33 markers as the Baby Lancers spanked the USJ-R Baby Jaguars, 84-78.

The Baby Lancers, thus, stayed at second placed with a 5-1 slate, just a full game behind the unbeaten UC Junior Webmasters (5-0).

The scores

First game

UV (84) - Arong 23, Legarde 17, Ybañez 16, Mendoza 12, Quilaton 4, Brigoli 4, Pero 2, Suan 2, Navaja 2, Marata 2USJ-R (78) - Trozo 14, Escatron 14, Senining 13, Muñez 13, Autentico 9, Montecillo 7, Alob 2

Halftime: 44-38

Second game                   

UV (79) - Diputado 15, Rez 11, Slaughter 10, Calo 9, Cincoflores 8, Lao 6, Manigque 6, Cabahug 4, Lasala 4, Dennison 2, Silva 2, Olivares 2

USPF (65) - Dajalos 14, Rivera 10, Avila 10, Filoteo 10, Linao 6, Durano 5, Tinoy 4, Bardilas 4,

Halftime: 38-40. – THE FREEMAN