A BUZZER-BEATER, half-court shot in the second quarter. Free throws in crunch time. Those were what the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Wildcats needed to take their first win in the 2018 Season of Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi).
The Wildcats stunned the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors, 82-77, in Cesafi’s men’s basketball tournament elimination round in the Cebu Coliseum yesterday to notch its first win after eight games.
Kenny Rogers Rocacurva drilled a highlight buzzer-beating trey at the halfcourt by the end of the second quarter to give the Wildcats a 37-32 lead at the half after being down by nine points, 21-12, at the first quarter.
Rocacurva’s shot seemingly lit the fire from the Wildcats as they come from the dugout blazing and was able to erect a nine-point edge, 51-42, early in the third quarter after Rocacurva converted a three-point play followed by a shot in the paint from Clark Adrian Con-ui.
Con-ui shot a buzzer-beater trey in the third quarter to pad CIT-U’s lead to double-digit, 60-50.
The Warriors staged a fightback in the fourth quarter and was able to trim down the deficit to three points at 75-72 with USC’s Jules Langres scoring back-to-back buckets.
Langres scored another layup after a split free-throw from CIT-U’s Kevin Peter Oleodo and the Warriors were within two, 76-74. But that was the closest the Warriors could get as the Wildcats managed to make a stop while making six of free throws down the stretch.
Oleodo made two free throws with 17.9 ticks left and converted another two from the stripes with 12.4 left to give the Wildcats a 80-74 edge before Mark Christian Cong iced the game with two free throws.
The lefty-guard Rocacurva top-scored for CIT-U with 21 points on top of 13 rebounds and two assists. Cong also had a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Con-Ui scored 16 points and Oleodo added 15.
Import Somtochukklu Managor finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, John Reel Saycon had 19 and Langres handed 15 in a losing effort for USC, which dropped to 2-6 (win-loss) record. (RSC)