High five for the Warriors

CEBU, Philippines - The University of San Carlos Warriors banked on a furious third-quarter assault by Ian Jefferson Tagapan, then never wilted in the face of a spirited challenge by the University of the Visayas Green Lancers to prevail in the battle of unbeaten teams, 79-69, in the 15th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. men's basketball tournament last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

Tagapan, who may have found a lucky charm after his wife gave birth just three days ago, unloaded 20 of his topscoring 22 points in the final half, including 13 straight that relit the fire of USC's offensive that flickered when the Lancers mounted a daring fightback after being down by as much as 13 points at 5:15in the second canto.

 Trailing by a baker's dozen, 24-37, Franz Arong and Josue Segumpan fired back-to-back triples to spark a 15-2 run that enabled the Lancers to knot the count for the first and only time at 39-all with just 13 seconds gone by after the halftime break.

Then enter Tagapan.

Scoring at will that literally electrified the pro-Carolinian fans, the explosive shooting guard dropped three consecutive 3-point bombs and followed it up with four straight points in a spectacular one-man show that in a blink of an eye restored the Warriors' double-digit lead, 52-42, halfway through the third period.

After the Warriors made it a 58-46 count, the Lancers again showed great recovery to pull within just four points,

66-70, on Kent Manzo's basket at the final 3:51 mark of the contest.

From that moment on, however, the UV cagers self-destruct with their crucial passing errors and forced shots that proved too costly. Not even a laudable defensive effort by Nigerian Steve Cedrick Akomo could lift up their comeback hopes.

As the Lancers couldn't pull through, Tagapan capped his endgame heroics by completing a three-point play before

Charles Pepito, who was a monster rebounder for the second game in a row, sank a pair of free throws that gave the Warriors a 75-66 breather with only 2:29 left to play, incidentally the same time USC was called for a technical foul for improper bench decorum.

It did not matter through as after Arong hit UV's last shot, heady pointguard Giovanni Laguyo scored on a smart, uncontested layup before Tagapan settled the final outcome with only 29 ticks left before the final buzzer.

Cameroonian tower Shooster Olago, who had two power slams right in the face of Akomo to underscore his dominance over UV's reinforcement, finished with 20 points. Nico Magat silently worked his way to a 14-point output, while the vastly-improved Pepito turned in another solid double-double performance with 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Warriors wrested the solo lead with a perfect 5-0 record.

Alfred Codilla scored 11 of his 18 points in the first quarter for the Lancers, who saw their four-game winning streak come to an end. Arong netted 13 markers, while Akomo nailed a dozen points laced with a league-best eight blocks and seven rebounds in a losing cause.

Earlier, the Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildcats tallied their second win in six starts after trouncing the listless University of Southern Philippines Foundation Panthers, 85-62. (FREEMAN)