Wednesday, August 20, 2008 Green Lancers shift fate at the Cesafi
THE University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers made a complete turnaround from their unimpressive start in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) as they displayed their true form yesterday when they bashed the University of Cebu (UV) Webmasters, 82-80, at the Cebu Coliseum.
“The only problem that this team has to deal with is over-complacency,” said UV head coach Elmer “Boy” Cabahug.
“This is the real team. This is what we can do. We have finally shaken off that stigma of our first game and gave you this,” Cabahug said.
Confidence
The Green Lancers lost to the University of San Carlos (USC), their two-time finals nemesis, in the opening of the Cesafi. Cabahug is confident it is not happening again.
“I can now confidently say that our chances for an eighth straight title are here,” said Cabahug.
It was a much anticipated game as it was the first time the giants from both teams—UV’s Gregory Slaughter and UC’s Junmar Fajardo—face off for the first time.
And people trooped to the Coliseum like it was the championship game.
In the end, both players showed strengths in different aspects. Slaughter was up front in the offensive, as he led all the scorers with a whooping 27 markers to Fajardo’s 12.
Limits
Fajardo, however, made up for it, scoring 21 rebounds and four block shots against Slaughter’s nine rebounds.
The Webmasters struck first and actually led at the end of the first period, 22-17. But this was all they could heave as the Green Lancers spit fire and grabbed the lead in the second canto and never looked back.
The Green Lancers further solidified its lead, leading by as much as 17 points against the Webmasters, 64-49, going into the final frame.
The Webmasters tried to make a comeback, slicing the lead to just eight points with a 9-0 run at the start of the fourth.
The run was however put to a screeching halt with a basket from Von
Lañete to bring UV’s lead back to 10, 66-56.
The Webmasters struggled to get back in the game and managed to pull to within three points, 74-77 in the final 45 seconds, behind a triple and a bucket from Jansen Abella.
Bounce
UC had an opportunity to move closer, when Fajardo made a steal, but there was a fumble and UV regained ball possession. Slaughter then converted his charities in the final 22.8 seconds of the game. Once more, UC was about to make a mad dash to basket, but the ball slipped off Robinson Mohammad’s hands.
Finally, Mohammad threw a shot from the halfcourt to slice UV”s lead, 80-82. An impressive buzzer beater that came a little too late as time expired on the Webmasters. Lañete scored 14 points, five rebounds, seven assists and seven steals.
UV improved with 4-1 win-loss slate, while UC dropped to 2-2. (MCB)
