It’s USC vs. visitors in CYBL VISMIN Goodwill Games finals

CEBU, Philippines - It will be the University of San Carlos (USC) against St. Johns Institute (SJI) of Bacolod and Ateneo de Iloilo (AdI) in the finals of the SBP and Passerelle divisions of the CYBL VISMIN Goodwill Games 2013 at the SHS-Ateneo de Cebu Gym in Canduman, Mandaue City. The dust had settled after a semifinals round of close games and the need to pull out the tiebreaker scheme.

In the Small Basketeers Philippines (SBP) division, USC overcame the University of the Visayas (UV), 61-52, while SJI scraped past Cebu Eastern College, 50-48, in the semifinals.

USC started out hot then had to withstand a UV rally which cut the lead to only two in the third quarter. Rasheed Libradilla took over in the fourth pouring in 10 of his 19 points to put the game out of reach.

On the other hand, SJI came from behind to score the win, limiting CEC to only two third period points after being down, 27-14 at halftime. Daniel Coo took over in the second half drilling in ten points in the pivotal third quarter and adding nine more in the fourth quarter.

USC had earlier overcome Xavier University (XU)/Ateneo de Cagayan, 66-46 in the quarterfinals, while SJI cruised past the NOODA Warriors of Bacolod, 62-31 also in the quarters.

In the other quarterfinal round games, CEC upset SHS-Ateneo, 45-28, while UV toppled Ateneo de Iloilo, 42-31.

 Meanwhile, USC streaked to a place in the championship game of the Passerelle division with a 66-49 thumping of CEC, its sixth straight win without a loss, then had to wait for the tiebreaker among CEC, Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu and Ateneo de Iloilo (AdI) to determine their finals opponents.

CEC nipped AdI, 66-65, to create a three-way tie for second place at 5-2 among the three teams after SHS-Ateneo had toppled SJI earlier, 62-35. Ateneo de Iloilo earned the right to face USC since it had the highest goal difference of 1.07 over the 1.05 of SHS-Ateneo and the 0.91 of CEC.

The third edition of the CYBL VISMIN Goodwill Games is an annual summer tournament featuring the top SBP and Passerelle teams from the Visayas and Mindanao. The visiting teams include SJI and the NOODA Warriors from Bacolod and Ateneo de Iloilo.  (FREEMAN)