WILY point guard Kurt Trangia took over when it mattered the most, scoring seven straight points in crunchtime to tow the University of San Carlos Warriors past the Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildcats, 81-74, in the 2019 Cesafi men’s basketball tournament on Tuesday, September 17, at the Cebu Coliseum.
With stud forward Sommy Managor fouling out of the game with 3:46 remaining and the game hanging in the balance, Trangia scored two straight tough layups and then, a pull-up jumper from the keyhole to give USC a 76-69 lead with 1:09 to go.
Then, after CIT-U’s Mark Kong scored for CIT, Trangia and Roosvelt Jelianggao made three straight free-throws to ice the win for USC and bring their win-loss record to 3-1.
Afterwards, Trangia expressed how proud he was of his teammates for stepping up in the absence of Managor. “It’s not all about just Sommy but the entire team. I’m glad we got that win,” the veteran court general said.
“We made a lot of sacrifices over the summer. We deserve this,” he added.
Jules Langres and Managor led the Warriors with 15 points each, the latter adding eight rebounds, an assist and a block. Magic Marata added 14 points while Mangubat had 12 points and 10 boards.
Trangia scored all 12 of his points in the fourth canto and added seven rebounds.
The loss was a sorry one for the hard-fighting CIT-U squad, which fell to 0-2. Jesse Aloro Jr. had 23 points and 13 rebounds along with two steals and a blocked shot. Jemcerson Sable shot the lights out and had 21 points.