THE University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers rode the hot-shooting of Albert Sacayan to bring back to earth the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) as they defeated the Baby Panthers, 96- 69, in the 2019 Cesafi high school basketball tournament on Thursday, September 19, at the Cebu Coliseum.
Sacayan, the marksman from Balamban, nailed an incredible nine three- pointers to anchor UV to their second straight win and improve their win-loss record to 2-1. He also had four rebounds, four steals and a blocked shot.
Surprisingly, Sacayan alluded to their defense and not his white-hot offense as the reason for their dominant win.
“We really just tried to focus on our defense. Because if we play great defense, the offense will just come easily,” said Sacayan after the game.
Pressed to talk about his scintillating performance which comes two games after he scored just one point in a loss to the University of Cebu, Sacayan finally wavered and said, “I know that if I keep on shooting, eventually they would fall.”
UV unleashed their full arsenal upon USPF, which was powerless to stop the relentless drives to the rim of Baby Lancers guard Fritz Bauzon, who ended up with 18 points, four boards and three steals.
Versatile forward Samuel Melicor also had his share of the spotlight as he had 14 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
Christian Alilin was the last of UV’s double-figure scorers with 10 points.
Christopher Isabelo led USPF, which fell to 2-1 , with 14 points. (SunStar Cebu)