THE UNIVERSITY of San Carlos (USC) danced with the fire before Sam Jordan Hermosa doused it with cold water to lift Warriors to an 85-79 win past the University of Cebu Webmasters in Game 1 of the best-of-three series for the third place of the 2008 Cesafi Men’s Basketball at the Cebu Coliseum.
The Univesity of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers, on the other hand, led their own series by beating the Cebu Institute of Technology Wild Kittens 81-74.
USC wooed danger when it traded fire with the Webmasters who were trailing all the way after leading 3-2 at the start of the game.
Using a different set of starters, coach Rhoel Gomez found his boys needing the services of their main man Junmar Fajardo as USC overshadowed the Webmasters for a 23-15 lead at the end of the first half.
USC made it 29-15 before Fajardo who was only inserted on the second period made his moves as he scored 14 of his 35 points to keep UC afloat against the exhausting Warriors attack.
With the Warriors leading, 49-36, the war of rallies began with UC starting with a 7-0 run to cut the lead, 43-49. USC answered with a 10-0 to establish the biggest lead of the game at 59-43.
UC, however, responded with their own 10-0 run before the third quarter settled with USC, keeping a 63-58 lead.
USC started the fourth with a short 7-0 run and UC countered with a 17-9 to make it 75-79 with 2:40 remaining in the game. It was when Hermosa nailed the back breaking triple 21 seconds later.
Janssen Abella kept the hope alive for UC but another triple coming from Jun Michael Cantonao in the final 47 seconds swept all resistance from the Webmasters.
USC’s gang rebounding and its quick defensive rotation will be the main agenda of Gomez when they prepare for the Game 2 of the series.
While for Jay Ramirez and Mike Reyes, it would be to limit the production of Fajardo or to keep the other Webmasters from scoring as much as he does. (RCM)
