HUNGER GAMES: UC, UV LEAN ON ‘HUNGRY PLAYERS’ IN GAME 3
UV hopes to win second straight title in Cesafi, takes on UC in Game 3 UC Webmasters also eager to end school’s six-year wait for Cesafi title Coaches Gary Cortes, Yayoy Alcoseba say the ‘hungrier team will win’
The stage for the grand finale has been set and nobody from the defending champion University of the Visayas Green Lancers or the challenger University of Cebu Webmasters wants to go home empty-handed.
But only one team will be crowned champion after the deciding Game 3 of the 2017 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) college basketball finals at 4 p.m. at the Cebu Coliseum.
UV is eyeing its second straight crown and its first repeat performance since 2007.
The Lancers are going to deliver what they need to do to beat UC but they need to stay focused on both ends and prevent the Webmasters from gaining momentum.
“It’s easier said than done. But we need to get the job done. This game is what the Cebuano fans are expecting. I know UC is also adjusting after what happened to them in our last game. Like us, we will never give up, UC is also going to do the same,” UV head coach Gary Cortes told SunStar Cebu.
UV’s basketball smarts prevailed over the sheer determination of the Webmasters in Game 2 and limiting UC’s import to just four rebounds was doing half of the job.
But Cortes is expecting somebody from the UC bench to step up. Ruben Ludovice repaid the trust given to him by coach Yayoy Alcoseba in Game 2 and became some sort of a revelation for the Webmasters.
“We need to give more efforts and lessen our turnovers. We gave away 24 turnovers in Game 2 and our energy in Game 1 was not there. We need to give more efforts. And take care of the ball even better,” Alcoseba said.
But while both coaches don’t want to talk about their game plans, they both gave glimpses of what they will do this afternoon.
“We will do a full court press from start to finish,” Cortes said.
“Improvement of post defense,” Alcoseba said.
And while UC relies mainly on Cameroonian import Frederick Elombi, the locals should also step up to win this game. John Jabello’s razzle-dazzle game went missing and Justine Dacalos’ backcourt savvy was not there since he fouled out in the middle of the third period.
The contributions of Garciano Puerto are also needed and Joven Tagudin has to elevate his defense a notch to complement his impressive offense.
The talented Lancers, on the other hand, have to play prudent at all times as their turnovers turned out to be the momentum-breaker in the past two games.
Team skipper Joshue Segumpan has to contribute his usual numbers and Liberian Bassieru Sackor needs to be careful with his shot selections and play solid defense down low, especially against Elombi.
Rey Suerte, Jerome Napao, Monic Soliva and Sheldon Gahi have to challenge the defense of Elombi and put him into foul trouble situation early, something they are capable of.
However, both coaches agreed on one thing: the hungrier team will prevail.