CEBU, Philippines - The De La Salle Santiago Zobel School Junior Archers whipped up a furious endgame attack to shoot down the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles, 66-53, and snare the championship of the four-day Cebu Elite Basketball League Friendship Cup 2013 last Wednesday night at the Cebu Coliseum.
Earlier, the University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors of debuting coach Carlo Britt Reroma pulled off a 78-76 stunner over the University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers to claim the third place trophy.
Renzo Subido fired 21 points, while Aljun Melecio and Jose Maldinger scattered 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the two-time UAAP junior champions, who used a 10-0 blitz late in the second quarter to translate a 20-26 deficit into a 30-26 advantage at halftime.
The Magis Eagles were never the same again from there onwards, allowing the Junior Archers of coach Boris Aldeguer to turn the expected close match into a one-sided contest.
After greeting the third period with five straight points, the Junior Archers continued to hit their targets with pin-point accuracy in the remainder of the final half on the way to post their largest lead of 21 points, 64-43, underneath the last two-minute zone of the game.
In unleashing that back-breaking rally, the Junior Archers handcuffed the Magis Eagles to only five points in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter to the dismay of a small throng of local fans. Cebu's top bet closed the game with a 10-2 bang, but the time they did it the Manila visitors had already sealed the blowout.
Arnie Padilla and Jair Igna were the only bright spots offensively for SHS-Ateneo, but they could only churn out 22 points combined.
The scores
For third
USC (78) – Suelto 28, Antigua 13, J. Antigua 13, Baltazar 9, Aying 8, del a Cruz 8, Antigu 4, Ting 2, Ortega 2, Amores 2
UV (76) – Escalona 16, Manzo 14, N. Canete 13, Villamor 6, Marquez 5, Santillan 4, P. Canete 4, Silorio 4, Ugsang 2, Wamar 2, Limetares 2, Dinolan 2
Quarterscores: 14-20; 32-32; 52-53; 76-76
Championship
La Salle-Zobel (66) – Subido 21, Melecio 15, Maldinger 14, Banzon 7, Cabarrus 6, -Abanilla 3, Isaac 2.
SHS-Ateneo (53) - Padilla 12, Igna 10, Laguyo 7, Ecarma 6, Huang 4, Navarro 4, Ong 4, Velasco 2, Mantua 2, Jaboneta 2
Quarterscores: 15-17; 30-26; 47-38; 66-53 (FREEMAN)