Wednesday, April 04, 2007 UV rules Partners Cup By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
WINNING for CDO-University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers is starting to become a habit they cannot shake of.
The mean and mighty CDO-UV Green Lancers asserted their dominance in the hard court to grab the Partners Cup basketball tournament title with a 78-63 conquest over Virginia Foods-University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars in yesterday's Game 4 of the best of five championships at the Cebu Coliseum.
"This tournament has brought about a lot of firsts for my team," said UV head coach Boy Cabahug, whose team succumbed to their opponents in a championship series for the first time in Game 3.
"At least this will be a great experience for my team to feel what it’s like to lose," Cabahug added.
"The exposure in an off-season is good for the teams. We hope there will be more competitions like this to come," Cabahug said.
The Partners Cup is the brainchild of Cesafi officials lawyer Baldomero Estenzo and Felix Tiukinhoy, who want to give players an avenue of competition even after the regular season.
Having Rino Berami back on court after serving a one-game suspension seemed to bring the Lancers back to its old self, even if Cabahug shelved sweet scoring Morsie Akad for injuries. In Game 3, Berami left a huge hole in the UV lineup, allowing USJ-R to foil a UV sweep.
A lot different
Berami's comeback provided a whole different scenario.
UV's mammoth 6-foot-7 pivot man and three-point terror Von Lañete powered UV's first half assault to take a commanding 16-point lead, 35-19.
The Jaguars, however, struck back with a 10-4 run to trim the lead, 29-39 to close the upper half of the game.
A huge third quarter run by the Lancers virtually ended USJ-R's hopes of winning, as UV went on a killer 8-0 run behind Michael Luga, Berami and Jaysar Esperat.
UV made matters worse in the final period as it further solidified its lead to 20, 73-53 early in the fourth, sealing their fate.
Game 3 heroes for USJ-R, Lyndon Gudez, Luther Justiniani and Manny Gabas, who all scored 23 points each in Game 2, were being marked by the UV defenders as they were limited to scoring minimally.
Double figures
Justiniani was the lone player to score in double figures for USJ-R with 16, which was allowed by UV in the first half. Gabas and Gudez combined for only seven points the whole game.
UV captain Esperat, made his last game with the Lancers a memorable one as he steered the team to victory, top scoring with 16 markers. Lanete added 15, while Berami scattered 13 of his own.
The win for UV is a preview of what they will be showcasing come Cesafi 2007 season.
"We will still be a strong team. We lose some players, but we have equally good ones to replace them," Cabahug said.
Other than Esperat, ending their playing years in the Cesafi are Frangiel Omolon and Jaymar Tacaldo/Canoy.
"We will be tapping the services of (Harlou) Villanil, (Edrian) Lao, Luga and (Ariel) Mepaña will be back from injuries. They are a very strong lineup," Cabahug said.
