Cebu’s Cobras, Archers face off

MANILA, Philippines - Cebu’s Southwestern U seeks to break the stranglehold of well-funded teams from the Big City in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) as it battles reigning UAAP titlist La Salle at the start of their best-of-three title showdown today at The Arena in San Juan.

The Cobras target history as they attempt to become the first non-Metro Manila team to ever win the annual tournament. The Cebu-based dribblers have been the surprise of the 12th edition of the cagefest, slaying the mighty Archers, known for their traditionally strong program and massive funding, in their semis faceoff last week.

“We have our own program and supporters but compared to the teams here in Manila, it’s really hard to compete,” said SWU coach Yayoy Alcoseba.

Alcoseba, for one, already lost the talented 6-7 Cameroonian Ben Mbala, who left for La Salle last year.

La Salle mentor Juno Sauler, who has joined an elite club of coaches that won a UAAP championship in their rookie season, however, isn’t surprised how strong provincial teams like SWU can be.

“That’s the good thing about this league because it makes people realize that there are also good college teams from the South and outside Metro Manila,” said Sauler.

La Salle and SWU forged a title duel by winning two of their games in the round-robin semis. The Archers advanced via a 64-60 win over NCAA titlist San Beda and SWU booked a berth with its 86-71 rout of Far Eastern U last Thursday.

The opener is scheduled at 4 p.m. Game Two is set tomorrow, same time while a deciding Game Three, if necessary, is on Thursday at the same venue.

SWU has already achieved a feat by emerging as the first team from Cebu, a basketball hotbed just like Manila, to make it to the finals since a Greg Slaughter-led University of Visayas team advanced that far only to lose to another powerhouse NCR team, Ateneo, six years ago.

But unlike the UV Lancers, the Cobras have the tools and the grit to seriously contend for the title. Their shock 68-58 overtime victory over the Archers in their previous meeting at the Blue Eagle Gym last week should serve as an inspiration and motivation for the Cobras to score a repeat.