Lancers eye sweep of elims

CEBU, Philippines - Unbeaten University of the Visayas Green Lancers will try to sweep the elimination games and make a trip to the finals as they go up against the unpredictable University of San Jose Recoletos Jaguars in the Bogo City Mayor's Cup CESAFI Pre-Season basketball tournament at the Celestino E. Martinez, Jr. Sports Complex in Bogo City.

The Lancers-Jaguars showdown is set at 6 p.m. to be followed by the encounter between University of San Carlos Warriors and University of Cebu Webmasters at 7:30 p.m.

The winner in the semifinal battle between the Lancers and the Jaguars will most likely face the Warriors in the knockout finals as they are the heavy favorite to win against the Webmasters.

In going for a sweep, the Lancers (3-0) are expected to take Bogo by storm in full force and most probably this time, they will bring their import in Steve Cedrick Akomo as head coach Gary Cortes will call the shots for the team.

In all of those three victories, assistant coach Junel Maglasang steered the Lancers who scored a huge upset in the opener against the Warriors despite playing undermanned and import-less.

Rey Suerte had been a big factor and was a consistent scorer for the Lancers.

Jaguars will now focus on their offense with bigman Kevin Villafranca at the battlefront along with Ralph Dinolan, Mark Labares, Iron Suano and rookies in the likes of Ferdinand Resma and Jaybie Mantilla.

Meanwhile, the Warriors who are tied with the Jaguars with 2-1 win-loss record, will rely on their hard-working import in Shooster Olago and bigmen Charles Pepito and William McAloney.

The Webmasters (1-2) on the other hand, can count on Melvin Botuhan, Earl Montilla, Justin Dacalos and Graciano Puerto, just to name a few. (FREEMAN)