Wednesday, March 21, 2007 USJ-R steals Game 1 in VAAA finals
THE University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars are just one win from clinching the first-ever Visayas Amateur Athletic Association title, as they draw first blood following a 67-59 win over the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras in Game 1 of the championship series at the University of San Carlos Gym last Monday.
Tonight, the Jaguars will try to clinch the title but the Cobras are expected to play their best to forge a winner-take-all Game 3.
Meantime, the University of San Carlos Warriors salvaged third place after beating the Salazar Colleges of Science and Institute of Technology, 97-83, in the first game.
The Jaguars proved to be a steadier team down the stretch as the Cobras crumbled into pieces to concede the first game of the series.
After 18 lead changes and eight deadlocks in a very physical game, the Jaguars sealed the win after Lyndon Gudez and Bobby Hatague broke a 55-all deadlock by scoring a telling 9-0 blitz.
“They were caught flat-footed with our 1-2-2 defense in the final six minutes. But the early foul trouble of (Alfred) Belande (SWU’s leading scorer) really helped us a lot,” USJ-R head coach Edito Salacot told Sun.Star Cebu after the game.
SWU assistant coach Bong Begontes, however, said their mistakes caused them the match.
Technicals
“We made a lot of lapses. That technical foul against (Gilbert) Gallarde was the biggest factor of our loss. We broke down from there and we lost our focus,” Begontes stressed.
Gallarde and USJ-R muscleman Randy Pogoy were assessed with technical foul each for unsportsmanlike foul. Pogoy’s came at 4:15 of the third quarter, while Gallarde got his at 6:55 of the fourth.
SWU also committed two 24-second violations, two more unforced turnovers and three forced shots despite the early exit of Pogoy (3:35) and John Malinao (1:11) due to foul trouble.
However, SWU did not feel the effect of Gallarde’s foul until the five-minute mark when the Jaguars broke away from the deadlock to silence the largely Cobras supporters.
“We should not be complacent at this point. I know that SWU will make a lot of adjustments in Game 2, while we will be trying to counter their game plans,” Salacot added. (RCM
