UC eyes Cesafi title
UC eyes second straight win over Ateneo; defending champions hope to extend series
THE high-spirited University of Cebu Baby Webmasters will go for the kill using the momentum of a 73-63 Game 1 win last Tuesday in Game 2 of the 2015 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) high school finals at the Cebu Coliseum at 5:15 p.m.
In the second game, the Southwestern University Cobras will try to close out the best-of-3 series for third place as they try to duplicate an 84-66 Game 1 win last Tuesday against the University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars at 6:45 p.m.
However, the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles, the high school defending champions, are expected to bounce back from their subpar performance that led to their first loss of the season.
UC did its homework well, plugging its defensive holes and putting up an aggressive offensive game plan.
In fact, UC outscored SHS-AdC on its forte – the open court game—outscoring the Eagles 14 to 8.
Both teams made 26 baskets but UC shot better at the 3-point area---8 of 24--against SHS-AdC, which only made four of 25 shots from the arc.
The Magis Eagles imposed their advantage in size and heft as they collected a total of 43 rebounds, with 14 on the offensive end that resulted in 11 second chance points. UC was better on the defensive end, grabbing 32 to the Eagles’ 29. UC also had more steals, 9-5, and had 16 assists to the Eagles’ 10.
Coach Rommel Rasmo has to rally his players, especially the second stringers, to be more aggressive and more consistent to give the starters enough breaks going to the tough grind of the final quarter.
The Magis Eagles will also have to solve the offensive puzzle that is Froilan Mangubat, who was the top producer of the Baby Webmasters in Game 1. Mangubat, Jason Abejo and Luigi Gabisan combined for 49 points in Game 1. Aside from the trio, SHS-AdC also needs to match the quickness and hustle of the diminutive Gelmart Umpad, who was the surprise pack- age for UC.
Luckily for the Magis Eagles, UC only has six players who consistently score while they have nine.
Jed Colonia, Wayne Bersaluna, Eroll Pastor, Patrick Wilson Yu, Phil Renzo Calumpang and Travis Mantua have to be more aggressive and accurate to keep the hopes for a successful title defense alive.