UNIVERSITY of Cebu’s prized 6-foot-7 center Junmar Fajardo made his return to the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc (Cesafi) an explosive one as he led the team to backdoor win over the Southwestern University Cobras, 91-86, Sunday night at the Cebu Coliseum.
Fajardo only managed to play in a few games two years ago and was forced to sit out the entire 2007 season because of injuries. In that short time, Fajardo showed a few hints of spectacle that left people intrigued at what the then lanky giant from Pinamungajan can do.
Yesterday, all eyes were on Fajardo—including those from University of the Visayas Green Lancers’ much-hyped center Gregory Slaughter, who was measuring up a worthy nemisis—as Fajardo was reintroduced into the premier collegiate league with a bang, coming up with a game-high 31 points, 13 rebounds and 10 blocks that led UC to claim its first win for the season.
It seems like UC is well on the way to make up for a disastrous 2007 season, when they fell short in the title bid, bombing out of contention early in the competition.
This year, with a muscled-up Fajardo in the frontlines, UC is ready to take Cesafi by storm with the help of regular dependable like Jansen Abella and with a troop of sturdy additions led by US-raised Filipinos Edward Pao and Kevin Quilantang.
Surprise
In the game, UC was buried by a 12-point deficit in the fourth period when Fajardo and Abella dropped a 13-0 bomb to take the lead, 74-73, in just four minutes that took the Cobras by surprise.
The tug-of-war for the lead continued on with the teams taking turns at the lead until the final stretch, when Pao broke an 86-all deadlock in the final 44 seconds, that had ensured UC of the victory.
Abella scored 20 markers for UC, while Pao had 10 points as Quilantang made 14 markers.
Alfred Belande paced SWU with 26 points while Janno Nunez had 13 markers.
