USJ-R DEFEATS UV, EVENS SERIES
After losing Game 1, USJ-R forces a do-or-die game with UV following a convincing Game 2 victory
The University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars held off twotime defending champion University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers, 68-58, in a highly-intense Game 2 of the best-of-three championship series of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) men’s basketball at the Cebu Coliseum, Oct. 27.
USJ-R weathered the storm in the second half to even the series at 1-1 and force a decisive Game 3 showdown tomorrow, Oct. 29.
The Jaguars felt the urgency in a must-win game as they were off to a 17-3 hot start in the first quarter anchored by Jaguars’ import Tochukwu Ewenike, Nichole John Ubalde, Jaybie Mantilla and Cris Galvez.
The lead ballooned to 19 points, 26-7, after Elmer Echavez converted back-to-back layups at the early part of the second quarter. Juan Miguel Gastador made a booming trey to close the first half with a 34-19 advantage.
The Green Lancers struggled in the first half with an awful 20 percent shooting clip, shooting 9-of-43 from the field, while the Jaguars had a steady 41.9 field goal percentage.
The Green Lancers came alive after the break as Jafet Claridad, the Game 1 hero, injected life into UV’s offense with two triples and a layup for a telling 12-2 run.
Bassieu Sackor and Rey Anthony Suerte also scored two points each on that run and UV cut down the deficit to just five, 31-36. But the Jaguars immediately responded with a mini 8-4 run that was highlighted by Ubalde’s steal which led to an open layup.
With less than three minutes left in the third quarter, UV got a big bump after its head coach Gary Cortes was slapped with his second technical foul, for resentment of a call, and was ejected from the game.
Things continued to heat up before the start of the fourth quarter after a fan attempted to enter the court. It appeared that he wanted to confront Cortes.
The Green Lancers started the fourth quarter on a strong note with Suerte and Josue Segumpan conniving for five points to trail within six, 43-49, but the Jaguars retaliated with their own, scoring five consecutive points from Mantilla and Ubalde.
The Green Lancers had a 6-0 run after Ubalde made a trey to trim down the gap to four, 53-57 with 3:59 left to play. That was the closest UV would get as USJ-R controlled the final three minutes.
Ubalde led the Jaguars with 19 points, five rebounds and two assists. Mantilla and Ewenike both had a double-double performance. Mantilla finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Ewenike had 12 points and 18 rebounds.
Suerte scored 17 and Claridad added 12 for the Green Lancers.
UV, which is gunning for a three-peat, took Game 1 with a 78-74 victory over USJ-R due to the heroics of Claridad, who sank a clutch three-pointer to clinch the win.
Game 3 is slated tomorrow at 6 p.m. still at the Cebu Coliseum. /