Friday, March 30, 2007
UC steals third from SWU
By Marian C. Baring
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
METRO Gaisano-University of Cebu Webmasters banked on a last- minute effort to pull out a come-from-behind win over Skygo-Southwestern University, 69-63, to salvage third place in the Partners Cup last Wednesday night at the Danao City Sports Complex.
Like in previous match, the Skygo-SWU Cobras destroyers suffered from end-game jitters, as they squandered a confident lead in the final two minutes to end their bid in the tournament without a trophy in hand.
Pinoy Votes: Sun.Star Election 2007
It has been a long but still rewarding journey for the rookie Skygo-SWU team, which, despite bowing out, hurdled all difficulties to reach this far in the competition.
Improvement
“You could really see the huge improvement on the SWU squad as compared to seeing them during their first game,” said tournament commissioner Ramon Fernandez.
Egged on by a crowd that cheered on Danao City’s Eric Zanoria, the Cobras put up a sterling performance early, managing to keep a safe distance from the Webmasters, especially in the crucial final half.
The Skygo-SWU squad had the win within reach and was headed for the victory, 62-55, with just 2:13 minutes left in the game clock, when tragedy struck.
The Cobras gave up a number of loose balls and bungled their shots, allowing the Webmasters to go berserk and dispense a blistering 12-0 run that left the Cobras dumbfounded.
Jonathan Canceran, Marvin Ceniza and Allain Abellanosa took turns in barraging the basket to steer the team to third place, which was awarded to them by Fernandez and Danao City Councilor Oscar “Boying” Rodriguez.
Top scorers
Abellanosa topscored for UC with 17 points, while Canceran added 13. Chris Litorja, on the other hand, led the SWU scorers with 13 markers.
Meanwhile, this afternoon, the Virginia Foods Inc–University of San Jose- Recoletos, will try to bounce back from its loss to the CDO-University of the Visayas Green Lancers when the two square off anew in Game 2 of the best of five championship series.
GAISANO-UC (69)—Abellanosa 17, Canceran 13, Cipriano 8, Ceniza 8, Flanco 8, Abatayo 8, Abella 5 SKYGO-SWU (63)—Litorja 13, Maguate 11, Belande 8, Gianchand 8, Jalandoni 7, Zanoria 7, Escober 5, Canonigo 4.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (March 30, 2007 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
