Baby Lancers cruise into finals

CEBU, Philippines - Nelson Peralta scored on a crucial five-point swing as the University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers fended off a last-ditch rally by the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers to walk away with a 57-51 victory and claim the first finals slot in the secondary division of the 11th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball season last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

Peralta was waiting for the pass to be given back to him and hit a triple from the right wing and then converted a lay-up after the Baby Panthers' miss to give the UV bantams an eight-point lead in the final 2:59 mark of the contest.

It was, however, the huge baskets by Andres Paul Desiderio that mattered most as he topscored for UV with 15 points.

The Baby Lancers did not make it into the finals for the past two years after winning the title in 2008. They placed only third in 2009 when the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Baby Wildcats clinched a historic first crown.

Last year, the UV juniors also failed to advance that paved the way for another historic and school record carved out by the Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Dragons, who swept the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-Adc) Magis Eagles in their best-of-three finals.

The Baby Lancers had an erratic second period, allowing the Rommel Diapera-led Baby Panthers to take control of the game although their deficit was just minimal. The largest lead by the Baby Panthers in that period stood at five points, 19-14, but was quickly erased by the Baby Lancers.

From a slim 28-24 halftime lead, the Baby Lancers suddenly caught fire to mount an 11-point lead, 38-27, and went on to control the tempo of the game the rest of the way.

The Panthers threatened at 45-47 with still 6:16 to play, but Peralta and Desiderio quickly came to UV's rescue.

Diapera led the Baby Panthers with 23 points, the only player in double figures.

The scores

UV (57) - Desiderio 15, Peralta 10, Ugsang 8,Lucero 8, Oche 6, Dennison 5, Fernandez 3, Berdin 2

USPF (51) - Diapera 23, Gairanod 7, Amontos 6, Villarta 6, Cando 4, Mangaron 4, Lim 2 Halftime: 28-24 (FREEMAN)