UV faces uphill climb in semis duel vs USC

CEBU, Philippines – Defending champion University of the Visayas Green Lancers found themselves in an unfamiliar situation as they take on the topseed University of San Carlos Warriors at the start of the 14th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) men's basketball semifinals today at the Cebu Coliseum.

Before the UV-USC duel set at 6:45 p.m., the fourth seed Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildkittens will go up against the fifth-ranked University of Cebu Junior Webmasters kicking off the quarterfinal stage in the juniors division.

The Lancers face an uphill battle against the twice-to-beat Warriors, but knowing their capability to comeback, they are still a force to reckon win.

Landing at the fourth spot for the first time in CESAFI's 14-year history, the Lancers need to beat the rejuvenated Warriors two times in order to advance. That is not impossible for them to achieve though, more so if they will conjure the spirit of their stunning conquest of the Southwestern University Cobras in last year's finals.

Down 0-2 in the best-of-five series, the Lancers staged a highly improbable comeback by gunning down the previously undefeated Cobras three consecutive times to win the championship.

Still, the Lancers must be wary of the Warriors, who are armed with a highly explosive reinforcement in Shooster Olago. The versatile cager from the Democratic Republic of Congo is in high spirits, having snared the All-Star MVP award after hitting 27 points to power the North All-Stars to a 99-91 win in overtime against the South. Prior to that, he also ruled the Slam Dunk contest among foreign entries during last Sunday's All-Star show at the Cebu Coliseum.

Olago will team up with another foreign cager Espoir Toyambi, but the Warriors, of course, need the support of their local crew in the likes of Victor Rabat, Christian Laude, Nico Magat, Charles Pepito and Kiefer Lim if they want to barge into the final round without any hitch.

The Lancers, on the other hand, hope to draw good plays from the tandem of Jean Marie Mpouma and Jeff Aguara, even as they can also squeeze the most from Leonard Santillan, Rhaffy Octobre, John Michael Abad, Francisco Arong, Alfred Codilla, Alwin Aguirre and Chris Perolino in their bid to live and fight for another day.

Meanwhile, the Wildkittens will rely most on Justin Jules Lagres, Jasper Berezo, Joshua Philip Manatad, Kevin Plaza and Vince Bradley Hapin in sizing up Darrel Shane Menina, Arvin Dungog, Richestel Isla, Rico Quiamco Jr. and Hiljun Hemida from Junior Webmasters. (GGM) (FREEMAN)