CESAFI HOOPLA Lancers pull past Warriors

CEBU, Philippines - The University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers survived the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors in a close 54-50 victory last Thursday of the 11th Cebu Schools Athletic Association, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball season at the Cebu Coliseum. 

Games today (Cebu Coliseum)

1 pm CIT-U vs. UC (Jrs.)

2:30 pm UV vs. USJR (Jrs.)

4 pm DBTC vs. USPF (Jrs.)

5:30 pm USJR vs. SWU (Srs.)

The Lancers had to fend off the Warriors many times by playing good defense.

UV may have led all the way, but struggled in the third canto where the Warriors outscored them, 8-13, and was up by five at the end of the period, 42-37.

Sam Hermosa took the scoring cudgels for the Warriors in an impressive third period while Edrian Lao scored six of the Lancers' eight points in the third while the other two came from playmaker John Michael Abad.   

In the final quarter, a jumper by rookie Vincent Mendoza matched the Lancers' biggest lead at 10 points, 47-37 but the Warriors retaliated with a dashing 12-2 run to tie the count at 49-all on a crucial tip-in by Giovanni Padillo still 2:10 left in the ballgame that awakened the sparse crowd of USC faithful.

UV regained some composure, but later, split charities by guard Nilton John Otida brought the Warriors back to contention with just a hairline deficit, 50-51 down to the final one minute of the contest.

Prior to that, Otida missed a hard drive that could have tied the game and would have given them the lead with a bonus.   

Abad answered with his own two free throws and the Lancers had a 53-50 lead just 46.4 seconds left and after two missed charities by Cid Cortes, the struggling Michael Cantonao also missed a potential knot-tying treble and the Lancers heaved a sigh of relief.   

The victory was the Lancers' 6th in eight games, while the Warriors who are still alive in the race for the top four slot, fell to 6-4 win-loss record.     

Lao, one of the consistent scorers for the Lancers, finished with 14 points and Mendoza added 10 markers.  

Hermosa top scored for the Warriors with 16 points while his usual back-up, Cantonao, made only two points.

Padillo and Cid Cortes chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively.   

The scores:   

UV (54) -- Lao 14, Mendoza 10, Silva 9, Cincoflores 9, Mercader 6, Abad 4, Perolino 2   

USC (50) -- Hermosa 16, Padillo 11, Cortes 10, Otida 5, Codilla 4, Cantonao 2, Panerio 2

Halftime: 34-24 (FREEMAN)