Sunday, September 14, 2008 Jaguars notches semifinal seat in BBEAL By Roderick Osis
THE University of the Cordilleras (UC) Jaguars scored a hard earned win against defending champion Cordillera Career Development College (CCDC) Admirals, 82-75, to earn a semifinal seat in the ongoing Baguio-Benguet Educational Athletic League (BBEAL) men's basketball at the jam-packed Admirals Gymnasium.
Admirals leading scorer Harold Sabado fouled out in the remaining two minutes of the fourth quarter to spell the doom for the defending champion absorbing their second defeat against four wins.
"Our motivation was our loss against SLU (St. Luis University) the last time so I told my boys there will be no excuses and we have to play hard," Jaguars head coach Florentino Luna said who scored the team's first win against the Admirals since 2004.
The win was also a revelation of sorts for Luna beating his former mentor in Coach Gerry Estrangero who headed the Jaguars two years ago with Luna still a member of the Jaguars core before becoming the head coach.
"We have been aiming for this win when coach Gerry was still in our bench and now I have done it against my former mentor," added Luna whose team is now assured of a semifinal seat and a twice to beat advantage in the men's basketball.
Jaguar Haynes Acdong was his usual self unleashing five three pointer in the first quarter to put UC on top by two, 22-20 with 2:22 left in the opening period.
The Admirals took a 14-5 lead with 5:20 left in the opening period before the Jaguars caught up with the defending champion and steal a four-point lead to end the first quarter.
The Jaguars remained scoreless for almost three minutes in the second quarter as the Admirals unleashed a 6-0 run to claim the lead with 7:53 remaining in the second canto.
CCDC then tore the game wide open in the third period with the tandem of Admirals Sabado and Aaron Aquino the end the quarter with a six point advantage going into the pay-off period.
UC then got back at CCDC unleashing an 8-0 run in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter to gain the driver's seat 62-60 with 7:28 left in the ball game.
It was a see-saw battle in the remaining minutes of the pay-off period with Sandy Perdido leading the charges for the Jaguars with his clutch three-point shooting while Sabado and Aquino teaming up for the Admirals.
UC then broke a 72 all deadlock with 2:22 remaining in the fourth quarter capped by an Acdong steal and a conversion by Jeremy Balagot to chalk up Jaguar's lead by four, 76-72, with Sabado fouling out in the remaining 1:56 of the ballgame.
"I made an extra effort to win in this ballgame because I was not in condition during our game against SLU," Acdong said of his 29-point performance to go with six rebounds, two steals and an assist including five treys in the first quarter.
Jaguar ace point guard John Carlos Domingo chipped in 13 points to go with his five rebounds while Perdido chipped in nine points on his three of three shooting from the three point arc and John Paul Juralbal contributing 11 points.
The Admirals was paced by Sabado's game high 33 points performance with Aquino adding 19 points.
