UC tames SWU in series opener

CEBU, Philippines - Six-foot-nine center Junemar Fajardo exploded with 26 points as the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters strolled past the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras, 87-84, to gain a 1-0 upstart in their best-of-five championship series in the 11th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball season last Saturday night at the Cebu Coliseum.

While Fajardo is UC's undisputed scoring leader, the game showed too many heroes for the Webmasters, one of them was pointguard Francis Luigi Bercede whose crucial triple padded their lead to four points, 84-80, after the Cobras moved within just a hairline.

Edward Pao finished off the Cobras with his own three-point bomb, giving the Webmasters an 87-82 breather at the final 1:50 mark of the contest.

The Cobras apparently succumbed to the defensive pressure by the Webmasters in the last one minute as Eleazar Armecin, who had been hot all night long, missed a trey and then Bonifacio Guillena also flubbed his short jumper in the final five seconds.

The Cobras had another chance to send the game into overtime, but Armecin missed a desperate long distance shot at the buzzer.

Pao finished with 18 points, while Bercede and Robinson Mohammad added 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Guillena paced the Cobras with 22 points, while Armecin and Pacquiao scored 17 each. Justion Aboude had 15 points followed by Joseph Nalos with 11 in a losing effort.

The Webmasters, who launched a daring 10-0 run late in the second period, gained a 46-39 advantage at halftime incidentally on Pao's triple as they tasted their largest lead in the game.

The scores

UC (87) - Fajardo 26, Pao 18, Bercede 14, Mohammad 13, Heruela 10, Caytuna 4, Auditor 4

SWU (84) - Guillena 22, Armecin 17, Pacquiao 17, Aboude 15, Nalos 11, Arong 2

Halftime 46-39. - THE FREEMAN

complete