Thursday, March 01, 2007 UC dumps Wildcats By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
GAISANO Metro-University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters found themselves back on track after they survived the third period surge of the El Rancho-Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) Wildcats to run off with an 89-83 victory in the Partners Cup Basketball Tournament yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.
The Webmasters, who suffered their first loss against the Virginia Foods-University of San Jose- Recoletos last week, displayed a better performance from the defensive end as they kept the Wildcats at bay.
El-Rancho CIT started off strong, building an 11-3 lead in the early goings of the game.
However, the Webmasters dropped a 10-0 bomb to take over the driver’s seat.
21-point lead
Gaisano Metro-UC further solidified its lead in the second chapter as it managed to erect a 21-point margin, 38-21, late in the second period.
Instead of sinking down the pit, the CIT squad suddenly came alive in the third canto, blasting off with a fierce 18-8 run to take the lead, 55-54, at the five minute mark, behind the efforts of Sherwin Abobo and Gerry Lumungsod, who bore holes in the Webmasters’ defensive line.
However, UC fought back with Kevin Juliane, Jonathan Canceran and Salvador Cadayong scoring seven straight points to retake the lead 61-55, which they have protected all throughout the game.
Sloppy
Despite the sloppy performance of UC’s leading scorers Kane Abatayo and Allain Abellanosa, UC still carried on behind Cadayong, Canceran and Marvin Ceniza.
Abatayo and Abellanosa, who average in double digits per game, only salvaged eight and seven points, respectively, yesterday. Canceran unloaded 16 markers, while Ceniza and Cadayong added 15 and 13 points, respectively. The improved the Webmasters record to five wins against one loss.
Lumongsod topscored for CIT with 24 points for CIT. the team remains at the bottom of the seven-team standing as it absorbed its fifth loss in six games.
