Thursday, August 14, 2008 Jaguars nab fourth straight win in Cesafi
THE University of San Jose Recoletos Jaguars solidified their intent to make an overpowering change in the hierarchy of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) when they defeated two-time runnerup University of San Carlos Warriors, 77-64, Tuesday night at the Cebu Coliseum.
USJ-R, whose players are mostly in their last year, showed they were ripe enough for the picking. Early on, they put up a strong defensive wall in the undergoal to force the Warriors, even its dependable inside man Enrico Llanto, to shoot—and miss—from the perimeter.
This hampered the Warriors’ offense in the first six minutes of the game, while the Jaguars sauntered to a 10-0 lead courtesy of playmaker Armand Ponce, and ended the first half ahead, 37-28.
Without anyone having the guts to challenge the USJ-R wall, USC looked to the unheralded in Giovanni Padillo to do the dirty job for them. USC started off the third period with a basket from Mark Cantonao, a 3-pointer and a charity from Eddie Bakker.
However, the Jaguars answered with a 6-0 run that put them ahead further.
Padillo slipped into the hero’s shoes when he initiated a rally that closed the gap, 50-53 and scored 11 points in a matter of minutes.
Too experienced
Still, the Jaguars proved to be way too experienced for the Warriors as it brushed off Padillo’s advances with another scorching run, courtesy of Luther Justiniani for a 66-52 lead in the final five minutes.
With less than mediocre shooting, the Warriors could no longer climb out of the hole they dug themselves in.
The Warriors, which roared off to a hot start with its win over seven-time champion University of the Visayas, lost steam as it absorbed its second setback in the competition after four outings.
The Jaguars, who aim to finally wrest the crown away from UV, posted their fourth straight win. Their title bid will be given the acid test, once they finally take on the Green Lancers themselves later.
Not a fluke
Justiniani proved his being the Player of the Week was no fluke as he scored 17, with two steals and two assists, while Ponce scored 12. Justiniani was named the Cesafi’s first ever Player of the week owing to his impressive statistics last week.
Justiniani posted the dominant figures collecting a total of 94 statistical points in USJ-R’s victories over University of Southern Philippines Foundation and University of Cebu.
He averaged 12.5 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and 2.5 steals per game, edging out two-time MVP Llanto, University of Cebu’s Junmar Fajardo and Southwestern University’s Alfred Belande.
This is the first time Cesafi hands out the player of the week award as according to commissioner Felix Tiukinhoy, “it boosts the morale of the athletes and heighten the level of play in the tournament.” (MCB)
