Jaguars notch first CESAFI win in style

CEBU, Philippines- Stripped of victory in their season-opening assignment and denied of what could have been a huge upset against a heavyweight opponent during their second game, the University of San Jose-Recoleros Jaguars finally marched forward to their first victory in the 15th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) men's basketball tournament.

And they did it in style.

Riding on a furious third-quarter attack which they sustained in the remainder of the match, the Jaguars roared off a masterful 102-71 demolition of the Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildcats last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

The 31-point blowout came like a whiff of fresh air for the Jaguars after their 85-68 triumph over the University of Cebu Webmasters last August 1 was forfeited for their failure to submit on time the ECG medical certificates of their players.

One week later, victory was within their grasp after leading by seven points with a little over a minute left to play, only to suffer a huge endgame collapse and eventually drop an 82-89 decision to the University of the Visayas Green Lancers.

 But enough is enough for the Jaguars.

After losing a 40-27 lead that saw the Wildcats closing in at 38-42 with just a minute gone by after halftime, the Jaguars unleashed a lightning 33-12 attack to suddenly tear the game apart with a 25-point advantage, 75-50, with only 15 seconds left in the third period.

Despite leading by a mile, the Jaguars never let their guards down, padding their lead to 31 points, 84-53, at the final 6:35 mark on the way to come up with the most lopsided triumph in the league this season.

Kevin Villafranca torched 23 points on top of 16 rebounds and four steals for the Jaguars. Ralph Dinolan and Mark Labares banged in 19 and 14 markers, respectively. Joshua de la Cerna finished with 25 points and Alan Dimco had 14 for the Wildcats, who crashed to their third straight loss.

In the juniors division, Jasper Berezo scattered 20 points and Marion Abinuman nailed 15 markers for the CIT-U Wildkittens, who used a 16-5 start to silence the Cebu Eastern College Dragons, 67-62. The Wildkittens are now tied with their victims with 1-2 win-loss cards. (FREEMAN)