SJI, CEC start hot in Cebu-Bacolod Goodwill Games

CEBU, Philippines - St. John’s Institute (SJI) of Bacolod and Cebu Eastern College (CEC) kicked off the Cebu-Bacolod Goodwill Games with contrasting wins at the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Gym in Canduman yesterday. SJI defeated host SHS-AdC, 65-46, while CEC nipped University of San Carlos (USC)-North, 55-54.

SJI, which is serious in its bid to dominate the Bacolod scene, started out hot, blanking the hosts, 34-0, in the first quarter.

Using a suffocating full-court press to rattle the hosts, SJI scored on easy baskets in transition that SHS-AdC couldn’t solve. This set the tone for the rest of the game from which SHS-AdC couldn’t recover. The lead was padded to 43-14 at halftime and 59-24 after three periods, before the Bacolod visitors took its feet off the gas for a comfortable lead.

Eman Go led the visitors with 14 points as Jarred Tajonera and Frances de Asis combined for 20. Jed Colonia led SHS-AdC with 16.

In the other game, CEC controlled the first half of the game, only to lose control in the third period before regaining its composure to take the game. CEC also started hot with a 20-8 lead after one period and 31-16 at halftime.

USC North rallied to take a 41-36 lead at the end of three periods. Denzel Sabroso then took over in the pay-off period with 10 points to give CEC back the lead for good with 1:40 minutes left at 55-50.

USC North would reply with a 4-0 run but ran out of time to finish off what could’ve been another amazing rally.

Sabroso led all scorers with 28 points.

The Cebu-Bacolod Goodwill Games is a joint undertaking between the Cebu Youth Basketball League (CYBL) and SJI with the goal of re-establishing a Visayas-wide series of games for school-based teams in the Visayas. The long term plan is to create more venues of inter-island games in Cebu, Bacolod and Iloilo.