THE University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers proved steadier in the endgame as they nipped the Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Dragons, 54-52, in the 2019 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. high school basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum on Thursday, October 3, 2019.
The “Balamban Marksman” AJ Sacayan was at it once again as he led UV to their fourth win in five games after pumping in 20 points, seven of which came in the pivotal fourth period. He also had six rebounds and three steals.
More than his perimeter shooting, Sacayan credited their defense as the main reason they hacked out the win. Down 34-39 at the start of the fourth, UV opened the period with seven straight points capped off by a triple by Sacayan to seize the lead, 41-39.
They remained ahead, 51-45, after another three-point bomb from Sacayan with 2:41 to go, but CEC kept their head in the game and pulled to within one, 52-53, after a difficult layup by Dwight Buisa with 28.3 seconds to go.
The Dragons even had a chance to reclaim the lead after UV big man Dave Basalo committed an offensive foul with 15.5 seconds to go. However, Sacayan came up with a huge steal with 6.6 seconds to go to give the ball back to UV.
UV guard John Banzon was then fouled, and with CEC in the penalty, made the first before missing the second free-throw. However, the Dragons failed to secure the loose ball as time ran out, handing the win to UV.
CEC, which dropped to an even 3-3 (win-loss), got 13 points from Buisa and 11 from Allen Rey Gler. (SunStar Cebu)