Games on Sunday (FilOil Arena)
2 p.m. – San Sebastian vs Adamson
4 p.m. – UST vs Letran
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cesafi king Southwestern U held rival University of the Visayas scoreless in the last 1:39 to post an 82-78 squeaker and cop the Southern Islands championship of the 2012 Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) at the Cebu Coliseum here yesterday.
The Cobras drew clutch free throws and baskets from Monbert Arong, Melvin Dedace, Junrey Ortuyo and Joseph Nalong as they outlasted the Green Lancers in a thrilling finish. UV took a 78-75 lead before SWU clamped down on defense and unleashed a fiery windup.
With the victory, SWU clinched a berth in the round-robin Final Four, where two champions from Manila, five-peat UAAP ruler Ateneo and three-peat NCAA victor San Beda, are already seeded.
Cameroonian Ben Mbala scattered 21 points while Nalong added 19 markers for SWU, which blew an 18-point lead (26-8) but recovered in time to beat the same team they conquered in the recent Cesafi title series.
John Abad and Phil Mercader paced the Lancers with 22 and 18 points, respectively.
In the first game, Adamson turned to Jericho Cruz and Roider Cabrera down the stretch to eke out 63-56 win over La Salle and move to the next phase of the Luzon-Metro Manila competitions.
Cruz (17 points) and Cabrera (15) spearheaded a major run in the final quarter as the Falcons seized control and opened 58-52 lead after trailing in the first three periods.
A split by Cebuano Oda Tampus and a three-point play by Norbert Torres put La Salle to within two but Cruz went to work and set up Cabrera for a crucial trey that all but clinched it, 61-56, 16 seconds left in the contest.
The win pushed Adamson into a duel with defending San Sebastian on Sunday at the FilOil Flying V Arena over in San Juan. The Stags trounced National U, 75-68, last Wednesday.
“We had a bad start and a lot of turnovers but fortunately La Salle couldn’t take advantage of it, they just couldn’t sustain the energy,” said AdU coach Leo Austria of their opponents, who played without LA Revilla, Thomas Torres, Luigi dela Paz and Cebuano Mark Tallo.
“Our tactic of switching from man to zone, trapping to zone clicked against La Salle, who couldn’t break our zone. Likewise, we started to convert from the outside, especially Roider and Jericho,” added Austria.