It's now or never Lancers, Jaguars in knockout match for CESAFI crown tonight
Will the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers FULfiLL THEIR GRADSLAM DREAM OR THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN JOSERECOLETOS (USJ-R) JAGUARS MAKE HISTORY?
This question will be answered when the Lancers and the Jaguars settle their unfinished business once and for all in the deciding match of the best-of-three collegiate division finals of the 18th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) men's basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum tonight.
Show time is set at 6 pm.
The Lancers stepped one game away from completing a rare three-peat with an emphatic 78-74 win in the series opener but the Jaguars forged a rubbermatch on account of their 68-58 triumph in the tension-filled Game 2 last Saturday.
This time, however, the contending sides fight on uneven terms as the Lancers will show up without their heach coach Gary Cortes who is automatically suspended after being thrown out in Game 2.
At the height of the Lancers' spirited comeback, Cortes was ejected after being whistled for his second technical foul with 2:20 left in the third period. He was first warned for such infraction at 4:27, then got his first technical at 3:36 of the same period.
Even if he's out the scene in the most crucial battle of his stint as UV chief strategist, Cortes remains upbeat on their chances of accomplishing their mission.
"I'm confident with my players as well as my coaching staff to steer the team to victory," said Cortes. "If the boys will just follow the system, believe me the Lancers will win."
But for them to succeed, the Lancers must make up for their mesirable showing in Game 2 where they shot 23 of 85 from the field.
Rey Anthony Suerte, the league's 2016 Most Valuable Player, paced the Lancers with 17 points but for sure he wouldn't dare to look at the stats sheet for missing 21 of his 27 attempts.
Despite their horrendous outside shooting though, the Lancers were still able to come back from a 19-point deficit in the first half, pulling within just four, 53-57, on a 10-3 run with 4:24 left to play. They could have even gotten closer but missed their chances after failing to convert on a 3-on-1 play.
UV's great recuperative powers is something that the Jaguars must be wary of.
And USJ-R could take a lesson from it, and that is to play consistent basketball all throughout the 40-minute spread.
Jaguars coach Leode Garcia is up for the challenge as they chase after their first ever CESAFI title.
"After our Game 2 victory, I just told my boys to savor the win and institute in their minds that we still need one more win to get everything," said Garcia, who will try to make history as the first coach to win a championship in his rookie year.
Interestingly, Garcia was a rookie a player when USJ-R snared its last major crown 25 years ago when the CESAFI was still known as the Cebu Amateur Athletic Association (CAAA).
Now that the two protagonists face a win or die situation, coach Cortes was very right on what he said from the very beginning that the team who will blink in the series will be on the losing end.