Scoring an upset
CEC Dragons upset Ateneo in Day 1 of Cesafi semifinals
THE Cebu Eastern College Dragons breathed fire in the final three minutes to score an upset over defending juniors division champions Sacred Heart SchoolAteneo de Cebu Magis Eagles, 6362, during the start of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. semifinals yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.
Not only did the Dragons win over the defending champs but they also ended the latter’s 22-game winning streak in the league.
Meanwhile, in the college division, defending champions Southwestern University Cobras pulled off a clinical victory over the struggling University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars, 66-53, to stay unbeaten in seven games this season.
The University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors, on the other hand, scored a vengeful 8381 win over the University of the Visayas Baby Lancers in the other high school semifinal match.
Clint Sueto scored 18 points and Kervin Villagracia added 14 for USC’s victory while Kent Manzo scored 19, Carl Escalona added 16 and Prince Canete finished with 14 for the losing Baby Lancers.
Today, the CEC Dragons will try to score its second win as they play the USC Baby Warriors in the 6:45 p.m. main game, while SHS-AdC will try to get back to its winning form as they play the Baby Lancers at the 5 p.m. opening game.
Stunned by the quickness of the Eagles in the opening quarter, the Dragons sliced a 5-18 first quarter deficit to make it 31-25 at the close of the first half.
After SHS-AdC logged its last double-digit lead 48-36 late in the third quarter, CEC moved within 46-48 behind a 10-0 rally early in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles managed to keep their heads above water before Marc Obada gave CEC the first taste of the lead at 58-57 with 2:57 left to play.
A seesaw battle for the lead followed suit before Alfonso Alviso Jr. scored a put back on CEC’s third chance in the final five seconds.
Gio Laguyo had the chance to steal the game but he missed a 15-foot jumper as time expired.
Roa topscored for CEC with 17 points on top of 10 rebounds.
Alviso added 16 points, and Obado contributed 14, while Laguyo was the lone Magis Eagles player to score in double digit.
In the college game, SWU started the game on a 17-0 run to set the tone of dominance in the entire game, while the UV Green Lancers defeated the USC Warriors, 83-68.
USJ-R had a few moments of glory but after they cut down the lead to 15-23. It was however the closest the Cobras allowed as they again dropped thunderstorms on the hapless opponents the rest of the game.
Landry Sanjo topped the SWU scorere with 15, Adam Mohammed scored 13 including 11 in the first quarter, Mark Jayven Tallo finished with 12 and Monbert Arong added 11.