DESPITE being the two-time defending champion, the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers top bench tactician Gary Cortes would like to take the underdog tag when they clash with the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars in the best-of-three men’s basketball championship in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi).

“It’s going to be a toe-to-toe matchup. I think we are the underdogs against them,” Cortes said in Cebuano of their matchup against the Jaguars.

Cortes said this a day after the second-seeded Green Lancers pulled off a thrilling 64-62 win over their bitter rivals and third-seeded University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters in the semifinals at the Cebu Coliseum.

The top-seeded Jaguars beat the fourth-seeded University of San Carlos Warriors in a separate semis match to advance to the finals for the first time in 10 years.

The Green Lancers and Jaguars have different stories, but both are gunning for glory in the championship, which starts Thursday. The Green Lancers will go for three-peat to add to their growing collection of trophies, while the Jaguars are on a mission to win their first Cesafi men’s basketball title.

To pull the rug on the two-time defending champion, Jaguars rookie coach Leodi Garcia feels that his wards must play on a different level.

“In my observation in the elimination round, we did not have a hard time against UV. But the feeling is different when it comes to the championship. The game is on another level,” said Garcia, a member of 1993 USJ-R champion team in the defunct CAAA.

The Jaguars and the Green Lancers split the two games in the elimination, but the former had much cushion in the final score. USJ-R beat UV by 16, 89-73, in the first round and UV only won by a point, 84-83, in the second round.

The UV-USJ-R championship clash last happened 10 years ago, when UV won the title. That was also the last time that the Jaguars made it to the finals.

With the Jaguars having no experience in the finals, Garcia said that his players should not feel intimidated against the Green Lancers.

“Actually we have veteran players who are reliable for us. I think it’s one of our advantages. If my players won’t get intimidated, we will have a chance to steal the title,” he said.

The Jaguars will count on the veterans in MVP Jayvie Mantilla, Jun Miguel Gastador, Ralph Jude Dinolan and import Tochukwu Ewenikie.

In the juniors’ division, it will be a heavyweight clash between the UV Baby Green Lancers and the UC Junior Webmasters in the best-of-three championship, which starts Wednesday. (RSC)