Jaguars square off against Panthers tonight

Games today (Cebu Coliseum)

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

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

4 pm SWU vs. CIT (Srs.)

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

CEBU, Philippines - The University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars shoot for their fourth win as they go up against the University of Southern Philippines-Foundation (USPF) Panthers in the 9th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball season today at the Cebu Coliseum.

While the Jaguars seek to make it official as third placers come the quarterfinal round, the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras hope to snap their two-game losing skid when they battle the Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) Wildcats.

In the secondary matches, the Sacred Heart School-Jesuit (SHS-J) Eagles will test the University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors, while the Baby Jaguars are expected to come up with a one-sided demolition of the Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Dragons, who had been easy targets for CESAFI scoring records.

The Jaguars need only to beat the Panthers to formally claim the third seeding going into the next phase of the tournament as they defeated both the Warriors and the Cobras who are their most likely rivals for that spot.

The Jaguars were never back to the floor since their 94-64 annihilation of the Wildcats last August 23, but they want to make sure that their long lull won’t affect their game against the fast-breaking Panthers.

Starters like Edwin Bibera, Kurt Amores and Edmar Pateño are again expected to be at the cornerstone of the Jaguars’ offense and make their presence felt in the company of Marvin Duran, Jerome Villaver, Medjet dela Rama and Abulaiz Suliman.

On the other hand, the Panthers, who haven’t found yet an antidote to their fourth-quarter meltdown, will rely on Ellison Rivera, Elwin Durano, Fritz Dajalos, Nuevo-Demo Fileteo, Randy Avila and Dennis Tabada.

Meanwhile, the Cobras will count the most from Eliud Poligrates, Gilbert Gallarde, Rene Pacquiao, Cris Litorja, Eleazar Armecin, Jefferson Pria and Arrd Diango as they attempt to snap out of their back-to-back losses to the UV Lancers and the USC Warriors.

 The Wildcats, for their part, will bank on Karen Rick de la Cerna, Arnel Ipang, Alexander Lopez, Mrco Sagmon and scoring machine Heroche Molero. – GGM (THE FREEMAN)