CEBU, Philippines – The Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras scored a masterful 80-59 victory over the hapless University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers to grab the temporary lead in the 10th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) at the Cebu Coliseum.
The Cobras, now toting a 2-0 win-loss record, will face an acid test against the June Mar Fajardo-led University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters, who debuted with an 89-65 victory against the undermanned University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors last Tuesday.
Even without ace point guard Aard Diango in the entire fourth period due to a slightly dislocated left shoulder, the Cobras never fainted and the Panthers' scoring paled in comparison with the latter's 44-64 deficit just after Diango has to be pulled out.
The lean and skinny Rene Pacquiao was in his scoring frenzy, leading the Cobras with 24 points as he also showed a lot of improvement compared to his performance last year.
Cris Litorja remained a big threat from the outside and with his brilliant shot selection, he would always come up with a killer trey. He just scored a silent nine points but it was really obvious he helped the team in keeping their dominance all game long.
With Diango reporting to league therapist Dr. Roel Dejano, backup guard Benito Ortuyo Jr. manned the backcourt and provided the same results the entire fourth period sans their ace playmaker.
Gil Wagas and Eleazar Armecin were the other Cobras who scored in double figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Fritz Dajalos was still the consistent scoring leader for the Panthers with 17 points while Lawrence Marano added 14 markers. (THE FREEMAN)