Cobras clobber Jaguars

CEBU, Philippines - Lanky forward Rene Pacquiao pumped in 12 of his topscoring 28 points in the fourth period and 6-foot-6 Cameroonian center Justin Aboude added 22 points as they powered the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras to a 94-75 rout of the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars in last Saturday's lone collegiate match of the 11th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball season at the Cebu Coliseum.

Bonifacio Guillena, Jr. and Eleazar Armecin connived with 23 markers for the Cobras, whose largest lead of 19 points turned out to be the final outcome of the match.

USJ-R's David Cinco will sit out in their game against the CIT-U Wildcats tomorrow as he was ejected in the final 1:18 of the contest for swinging his elbow against Armecin, who had been a victim of a physical and pesky defense by the Jaguars all night long.

A little miracle showed up for the Jaguars when they tasted the lead for about 13 seconds courtesy of a basket by Midjet dela Rama, 43-42, with still 7:33 left in the third period.

The Cobras quickly regained the upperhand for good, 44-43, on Pacquiao's basket.

The Cobras, thus, extended their winning run in the second round to three games in a row. Overall, they sport a 6-3 win-loss record.

Jason Olbedado, whose eight points in the third period helped the Jaguars keep their heads above water, finished with 23 points. Abulaiz Suliman and De la Rama combined for 31 points but their efforts went for naught as the Jaguars fell to 2-9.

The scores

SWU (94) - Pacquiao 28, Aboude 22, Armecin 12, Guillena 11, Bregondo 9, Nalos 5, Ortuyo 5, Arong 2

USJ-R (75) - Olbedado 23, Suliman 16, Dela Rama 15, Sanchez 10, Tabaloc 6, Cinco 2, Lajato 2, Frioco 1 Halftime: 40-34. - THE FREEMAN