Sunday, July 06, 2008 Cobras rout Luzon Tigers, 88-52
SOUTHWESTERN University Cobras had prior doubts at how they would fare in the Asian University Basketball Championships after losing manpower, but all doubts were wiped clean after they ambushed the visiting University of Luzon Golden Tigers, 88-52, to kick off their title bid in the 6th Asian University Basketball Championship yesterday at the packed Cebu Coliseum.
SWU head coach Dondie Miego told his wards to step up to fill the void that teammate Clifford Maguate left following a bad fall last Wednesday.
And stepping up was an understatement as they Cobras, armed with a mission to repeat their feat in the National Schools Basketball Championship, went on a mad dash that left their opponents stunned. The Cobras barraged the basket and scored 19 straight points in the first five minutes of the game.
When the Tigers managed to shake off the tension, they finally nailed a basket, which merited an applause from the partisan crowd.
Leading the rampage was wingman Alfred Belande, who scored half of his 18 points in that juncture to help the Cobras build a 24-7 lead in the opening period. Things only got worse for the Tigers as the Cobras further padded their lead to 50-23 at halftime, behind the efforts of Ardd Django, Melvin Divinagracia and Eleazar Armecin, who combined for 15 points in the second period.
The Cobras maintained their momentum and things got better as Django calmly buried a booming three-pointer from the left wing at the third period buzzer to go up by 33 points, 72-39, heading into the final canto. (MCB)
