Defending champ EGS falls flat in Sinulog Cup opener
Team EGS were greeted by a stinging 7460 defeat at the hands of the United Negros Basketball League (UNBL) All-Stars from Bacolod City at the start of the Sinulog Cup 2024 Basketball Tournament on Tuesday, January 23, at the Cebu City Sports Institute (CCSI) gym in Barangay Sawang Calero.
EGS started out cold and surprised by UNBL’s lightning 8-0 attack, they went down by as much as 14 points, 33-19, with 4:28 remaining in the second quarter.
EGS, however, suddenly came alive on the offensive end behind star guards James Ferraren and Shaq Imperial, who mastermined a decisive 15-2 rally to pull the reigning titleholders to within just a hairline, 34-35, with just 49 seconds gone by in the second half.
UNBL, however, quickly regained their poise, launching a 23-14 counter-attack to restore a double-digit advantage, 58-48, after three quarters.
Gaining much confidence, the visiting Negrenses opened the final stretch with a 10-5 bomb to rip the game apart with a 68-53 edge at the last three- minute mark before easing through a rousing 14-point victory.
Johnrey Villanueva netted 15 points and three rebounds while Aron Jeruta added 10 points and four assists for UNBL, which shoots for its second straight win as it battles against the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters at 7:30 p.m. today.
Imperial tallied 15 markers while Paul Desiderio came up with 12 points for EGS, which will try to bounce back and stave off outright elimination as it takes on Team Khalifa of Tacloban City in today’s opening match at 3 p.m.