Lancers book finals ticket

CEBU, Philippines - Jerome Silva and Chris Perolino shone brightly as the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers reaffirmed their mastery over the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras, 84-76, to secure a finals berth in the 12th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI ) basketball season last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

Earlier, the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters kept their title defense after they stunned the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars, 72-64, behind the stellar performance of his son Kim Gomez who knocked in four triples, two of them four-point plays, of his season-best 21 points. It was Quinton Brian Heruela, however, who topscored for UC with 25 markers.

The Lancers lost an 18-point lead late in the second period, 44-26, allowing the Cobras to wrest the driver's seat, 65-63, but Silva hit a trey to put UV on top again, 66-65. It was also Silva's triple that tied the count at 72-all with only 2:37 left to play before John Michael Abad split his charities to hand back UV the lead, 73-72, for good.

Moments later, Perolino joined the fray, scoring five straight points including a clutch triple that gave the Lancers a 78-72 breather with only a minute go to. Eman Calo, Silva and Abad settled the issue for the Lancers.

Silva cashed in a season-high 24 points for the Lancers, while Abad and Calo chipped in 13 and 11 markers, respectively, for the Lancers.

The Cobras, who outscored the Lancers in the fourth period, 23-16, were led by 6-foot-6 Cameroonian Benoit M'bala with 17 points. Monbert Arong finished with 15 points, but it was a far cry of his 38-point explosion against the Jaguars the other night.

In the secondary matches, the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles advanced to the championship round for the third straight time after scoring a 70-49 demolition over the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Wildkittens, while the UV Baby Lancers bolstered their finals campaign after they knocked out the Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Dragons. (FREEMAN)

The scores

First game

 UC (72) - Heruela 25, Gomez 21, Mohammad 10, Wagas 9, Cabrera 5, Cueva 2

USJ-R (64) - Abing 18, Tabaloc 15, Olbedado 8, Suliman 5, C. Parker 5, Lajato 4, M. Parker 4, Senining 2, Sanchez 1

Halftime: 38-33

Second game

UV (84) - Silva 24, Abad 13, Calo 11, Escocio 8, Mercader 8, Perolino 7, Akomo 5, Saycon 4, Oktubre 3, Mendoza 2

SWU (76) - M'bala 17, Arong 15, Ortuyo 14, Bregongo 12, Nalos 7, Aboude 6, Goloran 3, Casquejo 2

Halftime: 44-29