Victory at last for Baby Panthers

CEBU, Philippines - Endgame collapse still haunted the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers, but lady fortune smiled at them yesterday as they pulled a 101-96 victory in overtime against the Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) Wildkittens in the 9th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball season at the Cebu Coliseum.

            Games on Saturday

            (Cebu Coliseum)

            1 pm USJ-R vs. CEC (Jrs.)

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

            4 pm SWU vs. CIT (Srs.)

            5:30 pm USJR vs. USPF (Srs.)

 The Baby Panthers, who lost to the University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors in overtime, 82-83, last August 11, were maintaining an eight-point lead almost the entire fourth period, the last was at 73-65 with still 5:27 left to play.

The Wildkittens, however, staged a courageous fightback capped by an off-balanced triple by Franklyn Batiquin that knotted the count at 84-all with six ticks remaining in the regulation period, thus, the extension.

The Baby Panthers could have won the match outright but Joshua Corcilles, who exploded with 34 points, missed an undergoal stab as time expired.

It was an all-USPF show in the extra five-minute period behind the leadership of Rommel Diapera, who poured in 10 of his 30 points in overtime. Christian Baguio and Catipay chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Baby Panthers.

Batiquin had 32 points for the Wildkittens, while Mark Jayven Tallo and Joseph Nalos conspired for 35 markers in a losing effort.

The scores

USPF (101) - Corcilles 34, Diapera 30, Baguio 13, Catipay 12, Tumulak 4, Gigante 2, Pitogo 2, Silao 2, Arong 2, Rosales 2

CIT (96) - Batiquin 32, Tallo 18, Nalos 17, Limalima 12, Pamaong 5, Bancale 5, Figuracion 3, Tejam 2, Sanchez 2 Halftime: 41-36   (FREEMAN NEWS)