USC knocks out UV

CEBU, Philippines - The San Marino Corned Tuna-USC Warriors knocked out the PTT Fuels-UV Lancers with a 98-90 victory in overtime during their rubbermatch yesterday and in the process advance into the finals of the 4th CESAFI Partner's Cup at the Cebu Coliseum.

Underscoring their balanced offensive, three Warriors scored at least 20 points or more led by Michael Cantonao with 24 points highlighted by a triple in the final 10 seconds of the regulation period that knotted the count at 81-all, thus, the extension.

After Joven Cid Cortes put the Warriors back in front, 83-81, the Warriors netted the next six points to take an 89-83 edge with 2:04 left to play.

The Lancers failed to recover from there and the best they could muster was to close in at 90-94 with only 34 ticks left before the final buzzer.

"As much as we wanted, gusto namin ang low-scoring ballgame upang may chance kaming manalo," said Warriors coach Mike Reyes after the game.

Sam Hermosa added 22 points for the Warriors, while streak-shooter Giovanni Padillo added 20 points. Cortes chipped in with 16 markers.

The Warriors, thus, set up a championship showdown with the Ave Maria Sanctuary Park-USJR Jaguars, who completed a two-game sweep of surprise semifinalist Aerosol-USPF Panthers.

Eman Calo led the Lancers with 22 points while John Paul Abad, the shortest man on the floor, banged in 19 points. Olivares and Edrian Lao had 14 points apiece in a losing cause.

The scores

San Marino-USC (98) - Cantonao 24, Hermosa 22, Padillo 20, Cortes 16, Otida 6, Bautista 3, Codilla 2, Bercede 2

PTT Fuels-UV (90) - Calo 22, Abad 19, Lao 14, Olivares 14, Mercader 8, Señeris 5, Cabahug 2, Silva 2, Enterina 2 Halftime: 30-35   (FREEMAN NEWS)