For Ninth Straight Year, Lancers march into finals

CEBU, Philippines - Another season, another finals appearance for the formidable University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers.

For the ninth consecutive year, the UV Lancers under the coaching guidance of Elmer “Boy” Cabahug advanced into the championship round after completing two-game sweep over the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars via an 82-67 romp in Game 2 in the 9th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball season last Saturday evening at the Cebu Coliseum.

6-foot-11 giant Gregory Slaughter paced the Lancers with 20 points followed by Harold Cincoflores, Gilbert Lao and Phil Mercader with 36 points combined.

Aniceto Lapiz, Jr. topped USJ-R with 16 points, while Jerome Villaver tossed in 15 markers in a losing cause.

The Lancers will now have to wait for their next opponent as the remaining finals ticket is still being contested by the top-ranked University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters and the fourth seed University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors.

The Webmasters drew first blood over the Warriors in their own race-to-2 series, 98-91, thanks to the endgame dexterity of flashy guard Kevin Juliane, who amazingly shot a perfect 5-of-5 from the 3-point land to catapult UC to a come-from-behind victory. He finished with 16 points.

If the Webmasters succeed in kicking out the Warriors, that would set up a marquee showdown between two of the league’s powerful giants in 6-foot-11 Gregory Slaughter of UV and 6-foot-9 June Mar Fajardo of UC.

The Webmasters, then under the leadership of team captain Kenneth Ketn Sesante, lost to the Lancers in the 2005 finals.

The scores

First game

UC (98) - Fajardo 27, Rogado 20, Juliane 18, Abella 15, Luceño 9, Quilantang 2

USC (91) - Padillo 22, Bautista 17, Hermosa 15, Cantonao 15, Galarde 12, Cortes 7, Bakker 7, Codilla 6

Halftime: 36-51

Second game

UV (82) - Slaughter 20, Cincoflores 13, Lao 12, Mercader 11, Dennison 9, Señeres 6, Canahug 2, Calo 2, Silva 2, Olivares 2

USJ-R (67) - Lapiz 16, Villave 15, Amores 11, Dela Rama 7, Bibera 5, Duran 4, Pateño 3, Dela Peña 3, Nudalo 3

Halftime: 41-32. – THE FREEMAN