USJ-R, CIT finish 3rd in Cesafi basketball

THE University of San Jose-Recoletos closed out the series for third place after scoring a chilling 70-68 Game 2 win over the to bring home the consolation trophy in the collegiate division of the 2012 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) Basketball tournament held at the Cebu Coliseum the other night.

The same series was also won in the secondary division by the Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildkittens who also scored a scintillating 69-63 Game 2 victory over the Cebu Eastern College Dragons in the earlier game.

The Dragons were on the tails of the Wildkittens all game long before collapsing in the final seconds.

Mark Christian Kong scored the game high 18 points. Kresner Lyle Jabines and Charles contributed 16 and 11 points, respectively.

Meanwhile, UC started hot leaving the Jaguars 19-6 at the end of the first quarter before seeing the game slowly slip from their grip in the second.

The Webmasters still had a double-digit lead in the final minute of the second when burly Matthew Parker cut it down to six after scoring five straight points for USJ-R that closed the first half at 24-30.

UC was never the same again as USJ-R pounded the ousted champions with a 12-7 run, capped by Banjo Capilar’s triple, that gave them the first taste of the lead at 36-35 with 6:23 left to play in the third.

The Webmasters reclaimed the lead momentarily but Capilar was not yet done as he scored another triple and added three free throws.

Abulaiz Suliman, who fouled out with 6:58 to play, topscored for USJ-R with 16 and Capilar and Miguel Tabaloc added 15 points.