Monday, March 26, 2007 USJ-R wins thriller By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
FOUR intense quarters boiled down to the final two minutes that saw Virginia Foods Inc.-University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) pull off a last ditch surge to oust Skygo-Southwestern University (SWU), 93-88, in the third game of their best-of-three semifinals series at the Cebu Coliseum yesterday.
The USJ-R Jaguars allowed the SWU Cobras to put up one hell of a fight and just waited for them to collapse at endgame.
It has been a long and arduous week for the rookie Cobras, which has collided with the Jaguars five times—twice in the Visayas Amateur Athletic Association and thrice in the Partners Cup. It was a frustrating loss for them as they were seeking for revenge, having lost to the Jaguars in four of the five outings.
In yesterday’s game, the SWU Cobras, which turned a 13 point drawback in the second period into a 14-point lead in the third, were headed for the win when they tried to protect an 11-point gap in the final canto.
USJ-R's Luther Justiniani and Lyndon Gudez had other plans, though, assaulting the basket with three straight triples, eventually forcing an 80-all deadlock with 2:17 left in the clock.
USJ-R's Armand Ponce, the wily pointguard of coach Edito Salacot, stepped up during the most crucial stretch when he dropped a three-point bomb at 1:16 mark to send the partisan crowd into pandemonium, as USJ-R took the lead back to their side, 83-81.
Shortly after, Ponce once more slipped into the hero's shoes with a no look pass to Bobby Hatague, who converted at the baseline to solidify USJ-R's lead.
With the win, USJ-R arranged a titular showdown against CDO-University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers in a best-of-five finals series.
Gudez, who spearheaded USJ-R's onslaught in the first quarter, led the Jaguars with 27 markers, while Justiniani added 23. Ponce is the other double digit scorer as he scattered 19.
