SCSIT, Ave Maria gun for third straight win in CBA

CEBU, Philippines - Defending champion Salazar Colleges of Science and Institute of Technology (SCSIT) Skyblazers and Ave Maria Sanctuary Park hope to stretch their winning streak to three when they tackle separate foes in today's resumption of the 2nd Cebu Basketball Association–M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala Mayor’s Cup today at the Cebu Coliseum.

Games today

(Cebu Coliseum)

2 pm SWU vs. SCSIT

4 pm ACT vs. ThreeSixty

6 pm Rollway vs. Ave Maria

The SCSIT Skyblazers of coach Jojo Romarate will go up against the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras in the opener at 2 pm, while Ave Maria will clash head-on with Rollway Customs Brokerage in the main attraction at 6 pm.

Both armed with clean 2-0 slates, SCSIT and Ave Maria will earn outright berth into the final four if they get past their respective rivals.

After their blowout win against ThreeSixty Pharmacy-Online Training Camp last Monday,111-94, the Skyblazers will once again lean on their high-scoring forward in Mark Abadia together with another former UAAP standout Earn Saguindel and the towering 6-foot-8 center Rino Berame.

The Cobras of celebrated coach Raul "Yayoy" Alcoseba, for their part, hope to score a victory to regain their confidence level following a 79-89 loss against Rollway.

On the other hand, Ave Maria will again squeeze the most from Jercules Tangkay, Alex Cainglet and Ian Saladaga to name a few, while Rollway will bank on Eric Zanoria, Nat Cruz, Manny Gabas and Ryan Alicaway.

In the other featured match of the day, winless teams Asian College of Technology (ACT) Cyber Knights and ThreeSixty Pharmacy-Online will figure in a battle survival set at 4 pm.

The tournament follows a single round robin format, with the top two enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage into the crossover semifinals. The winners will then clash for the championship in a best-of-three series, while the losers will fight for third in knockout match.

The champion will receive P100,000, while the second to fourth will pocket P50,000, P30,000 and P20,000, respectively.

Tickets are priced at P30 for the upperbox, P50 for the lowerbox and P100 for ringside. (FREEMAN)