CEBU, Philippines - Height advantage helped decide the game for favorite Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles, who agonized for more than three quarters before pulling off a 78-69 victory over the smaller University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors.
The battle was the lone secondary encounter last night for 11th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball season at the Cebu Coliseum.
Games tomorrow:
(Cebu Coliseum)
1 pm CIT-U vs. UC (Jrs.)
2:30 pm UV vs. USJR (Jrs.)
4 pm DBTC vs. USP-F (Jrs.)
5:30 pm USJR vs. SWU (Srs.)
The presence of Julius Cadavis made a little difference down the homestretch as despite scoring only 10 points, he controlled the boards as neither Mark Andersson nor Richard Sevilleno of the Baby Warriors could contain his rebounding power.
Aaron Sing played limited minutes and scored just eight points for the Magis Eagles.
It was Maverick Suarez who led the SHS-AdC offense with 19 points and Dawn Henric Ochea made 13.
The Baby Warriors threatened for most of the way and despite being outscored in the fourth period, 24-11, they managed to bring down the deficit to 64-70 off a basket by Ian Ortega, the leading scorer for the team who finished with a night-high 24 markers.
Andersson chipped in with 11 points for the Baby Warriors who fell to a 2-9 win-loss record as against their conquerors, who lead the juniors division with a 10-1 win-loss record.
The lone loss of the Magis Eagles came in the hands of the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Wildkittens, 71-62 last September 17.
Meanwhile, the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers who are gunning to go up to the second position, battled against the unpredictable USC Warriors in last night's main event.
The Lancers have a 6-2 win-loss record while the Warriors have 6-4 win-loss slate. (FREEMAN)