CEC upsets USC in Alaska Basketball cup

Cebu Eastern College (CEC) upset top-seed University of San Carlos (USC) Green, 67-57, in the semifinals of the Under 16 age group of the Alaska Basketball Cup Cebu 2014 played at the Lux Oriens Gym of the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) in Canduman, Mandaue City. Meanwhile, in the other semifinals game, the University of the Visayas (UV) dug deep and needed two overtime periods to turn back an upset-seeking SHS-AdC side, 76-68.

CEC stunned the reigning Cebu Passerelle champions by streaking to a 24-8 lead after one quarter behind the hot hands of Richmond Bulibuli who was good for eight first period points including two triples. USC then used the next two quarters to rally, cutting the lead to 31-23 at halftime and 40-38 after the third period. But Denzel Sabroso caught fire in the fourth period, scorching 14 points to score the upset.

CEC was the second seed out of Group A and was facing the erstwhile undefeated USC side that was the top seed out of Group B. Sabroso led CEC with 18 points while Bulibuli added 11.

Jean Jacque Antigua led USC with 12. In the other game, UV nearly lost control of a game that they were leading and recovered in time to avoid a second upset of the day by outlasting SHS-AdC in double overtime.

UV stormed to a 17-7 and 30-10 lead after the first two periods behind Jifford Cahigas and Joshua Flores, and was on its way to an easy win until Niño Araw-Araw erupted for five triples in the third quarter to mount a huge rally and cut the lead to 43-31.

The SHS-AdC rally carried over to the fourth quarter with Araw-Araw adding four more treys and John Chen adding ten points and Hans Mesina scoring on a putback to tie the game at 61-all at the end of regulation.

With both sides slowly tiring out, the first OT period ended in a 63-all deadlock.

UV then got a second wind in the second OT period behind Orlan Wamar as they streaked to its sixth straight win including a 5-0 run in the elimination round. Wamar led UV with 20 points while Araw-araw had a tournament-high 29 points for SHS-AdC.

 In games of the Under 13 Division 1, Holy Spirit School (HSS) of Tagbilaran scored two wins over SHS-AdC, 38-33, and USC Gold, 31-26, to grab the second seed spot in the playoffs.

They bowed to USC Green 43-40, and found themselves in a triple tie for second to fourth spots with CEC and UV. HSS, though had the highest tiebreaker goal difference of 1.204, followed by CEC’s 0.989 and UV’s 0.800.

In the semifinal games of the Under 16 Division 2, UV-B halted SHS-AdC B, 41-35, while Don Bosco-B ousted CEC-B, 57-29.

The ABCC 2014, a partnership between Alaska Milk and the Cebu Youth Basketball League (CYBL), is composed of 48 teams playing in three age groups: Under 10, 13 and 16. This is the CYBL’s seventh season of providing basketball action for the grassroots.