UC draws first blood in best of 3 finals

UNIVERSITY of the Cordilleras made huge defensive stops in the second period and scored a blowout in game one of their best of three finals against University of Baguio at the UC gym Wednesday afternoon.

Defending champion Jaguars made good use of their home court advantage in annexing an 88-60 victory gaining headway in the short finals series of the men’s basketball in the Baguio–Benguet Educational Athletic League.

“We really focused our game on transition defense and at the same time we were able to make our shots,” said coach Haynes Acdong after his first finals appearance.

The Jaguars did well in rebounding as it outboxed the Cardinals, 48-35, and outscored from the three point territory where UC shot 9 of 17 while UB had 5 out of 15 from the triple.

Jopson Dail led the charge for the Jaguars with a game high of 21 points that goes with 16 rebounds and three blocks while JP Juralbal had 19 on a 4 of 6 shooting from the rainbow area that goes with his four steals.

Ryan Tumanan added 10 for the defending titlist on a 2 of 4 shooting from the three point territory with Chad Russel Villanueva chipping 10 rebounds with six points and three block shots.

Clyriel Elefante, who only scored one triple against the Jaguars in their eliminations round loss, shot 80 percent on a 4 of 6 shooting from the three point mark and led the squad with 16 while Kevin Ordunia had 10 points despite shooting 0 of 4 from the rainbow area.

The Cardinals kept the ball game close in the first period tying the ball game three times, the last time was at 12 all with 3:26 remaining on an Ordunia lay-up but the Jaguars outscored UB in the last three minutes of the opening canto for a 24-18 lead.

UC then continued the onslaught in the second period as it slowly pulled away from the Cardinals to enjoy a 28-18 advantage with 7:32 remaining.

The Cardinals cut it down to five, 30-25, and capped by a triple by Elefante in the five-minute mark of the second period. But it was the last time UB came close as UC ended the first half with a 13 point advantage, 39-26.

It was a different story in the third period as the Jaguars tore the game wide open leading by as high as 16 and closed out the period with a 63-48 advantage.

The Jaguars then had their biggest lead at 75-51 with 5:12 remaining in the pay off canto with no semblance on a UB Cardinals comeback.

In the distaff side, the Lady Jaguars also scored a nail biting victory over rival Saint Louis University Lady Navigators, 70-68, in their best of three finals series.

UC’s Jessica Mae Pingil led all scorers with 16 points and raised their winning streak to seven in this year’s season.