KOREA and China will be in a all or nothing battle today to determine which team will move to the title round of the 6th Asian Universities Basketball Championships at the Cebu Coliseum.
Korea’s Han Yang University and China’s Huaqiao University are currently sharing the second spot with identical 3-1 win-loss records following their wins over their respective opponents in their last outings.
Whoever wins will face University of the Visayas, which is currently on top of the standing with an unblemished slate, in the finals. The top two teams after the elimination will face off for the title.
China handed Southwestern University Cobras an 85-78 bashing in Tuesday night’s encounter at the Cebu Coliseum, while the Koreans sent the Angeles University Foundation of Pampanga packing without a single win in the competition, following a 108-84 win yesterday.
Goodbye
SWU, the National Schools Basketball Championship winner now has a 2-2 win-loss record in the six-team field and will close out its campaign against UV.
In the game, the Cobras fought tooth and nail just so they could impede the looming disqualification in the race for the top two slots for the title. The SWU squad of Coach Alijandrieto Miego raced off to an early lead, 24-16 in the opening frame, only to lose grip of the momentum in the second period.
The Chinese players clawed their way back into track and managed to outscore the Cobras, 26-16, to take the driver’s seat, 42-40, going into the second half of the game.
Move
In the third period, the Cobras once more made a stunning move when it dropped a 7-0 bomb at the start of the quarter to snatch the lead, 47-42.
However, this was the last surge of the Cobras as their shots keep failing to hit the mark.
The Chinese capitalized on their opponents’ messy offense and fired back with a 17-0 rally behind big man Yu Xiang, Jiang Xinxin and Chen Rongren to post a commanding 59-47 lead.
China’s lead continued to soar and the visitors posted their biggest lead, 79-60, with less than five minutes left in the game.
Still, the Cobras remained on a fighting mode and never gave up despite being down by that much in the waning minutes.
Crafty wingman Alfred Belande, Eluid Poligrates, Rene Pacquiao and Jerrous Ceniza anchored a searing 14-2 rally that sliced China’s lead to just seven, 74-81. Chris Litorja and Eluid Poligrates even sank additional baskets in answer to Xinxin’s four straight points that sealed China’s final score.
However, time was not on the Cobra’s side.
Han Yang University meanwhile, needed little effort to dispose off AUF. The Koreans only had to rely on their almost flawless perimeter shooting to take the win.
While their dribbling may be a problem as they were called for violations several times, they however did not have trouble with their shooting as they hit sure-fire shots. (MCB)
