Don Bosco shocks topseed UC

CEBU, Philippines - The Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC) Greywolves overcame an endgame meltdown to pull what is by far the biggest upset in the 9th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball season, hacking out a 77-74 stunner over the twice-to-beat topseed University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters to stay alive in the quarterfinals the other night at the USC gym.

Games today

(USC Gym)

4:30 pm UV vs. USPF (Jrs.)

6:00 pm UV vs. USPF (Srs.)

The Greywolves, who lost to the Webmasters during their first meeting by 17 points, 102-85, have to beat the Webmasters again in order to prove their worth. Curiously, it was their first win after falling 0-7 in the classification round.

With Moncrief Rogado on sickbay due to headache, the Webmasters’ shocking loss may have been attributed to their unfamiliarity of the court as they sadly missed several free throw attempts unlike at their turf at the Cebu Coliseum where they hit their targets with pin-point accuracy.

The playoffs will shift back to UC’s bailiwick next week, but the Webmasters have a lot of homework to do for them not to be haunted by the spectre of an upset from a low-ranked team as the Greywolves.

Last Tuesday was also a miserable night for UC because its 6-foot-11 center June Mar Fajardo was in deep foul trouble. He eventually trooped to the showers with still 2:46 left to play.

Fajardo sit for most of the third period with three fouls and was again recalled to the bench early in the final canto after incurring his fourth foul.

Nevertheless, the Webmasters erased a 13-31 second-quarter deficit and were in front, 71-66, when Fajardo picked up his fourth foul.

A booming 3-pointer by Alain de los Santos gave the lead back to the Greywolves, 74-73, in the final 45 seconds of the contest. The Bosconians then showed their resiliency towards the end off a basket by Joey Lucky Juntilla, 76-74, with only 22 ticks remaining.

The Webmasters had a chance to duck from a stingy defeat, but Janssen Abella missed a triple off a nifty assist by Kelvin Juliane with 10 seconds to go. In the ensuing play, Celso Colegado, Jr. split his charities off a foul by Kevin Quilantang to peg the final tally.

De los Santos topscored for the Greywolves with 19 points followed by Colegado with 16 points.

Fajardo’s 29-point output went for naught. Abella and Rommel Luceño scored 11 markers apiece for the Webmasters, who will take on the Greywolves anew in a sudden-death duel this Tuesday, with the winner advancing into the semifinals.

The scores

DBTC (77) - De los Santos 19, Colegado 16, Cinco 8, Aldave 6, Villaver 6, Hernando 5, Castro 5, Juntilla 4, Guba 3, Georsua 3, Cabañero 2

UC (74) - Fajardo 29, Abella 11, Luceño 11, Juliane 10, Quilantang 8, Gomez 5, Mohammad 3, Capoy 2, Cayanong 2, Tano 1 Halftime: 43-34 (THE FREEMAN)