THE Southwestern University-Phinma Cobras seek to go back to their winning ways as they take on the University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars in the 2019 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. men’s basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019.
The Cobras have dropped their last two games, including a shocking 67-62 defeat at the hands of the Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildcats last Saturday. After starting the tournament with three straight wins, the Cobras have since dropped back to the middle of the pack at 3-2 (win-loss).
According to SWU-Phinma head coach Mike Reyes, the Cobras must go back to doing the things that made them successful in the early goings of this competition.
“We go back to the fundamentals of the game,” said Reyes. “We lost our intensity or aggressiveness in doing the little things.”
The Cobras are also expecting the locals to step up as Reyes feels the team is putting too much on the shoulders of foreign student-athlete, Lamine Thiam, who has struggled mightily in his last two games, shooting a combined 6-of-26.
“We gave him too much responsibility. Napapagod siya,” said Reyes.
On the other hand, USJ-R will also try to snap their own losing slump, which is already at four games. After winning their opening game, the Jaguars have lost their last four outings including a 78-69 overtime loss to the University of Southern Philippines Foundation Panthers last Sunday.
Meanwhile, in the high school tournament, the Cebu Eastern College Dragons try to get back on the winning track when they face off against the University of the Visayas Baby Lancers at 5:15 p.m. (JNP)