BABY JAGUARS DRAW fiRST blood vs Magis Eagles

The University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Baby Jaguars bucked off a sluggish start, then weathered a spirited endgame resistance by the Cebu Landmasters/Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) to pull off a pulsating 61-56 victory over the Magis Eagles in the opener of their best-of-three finals series in the 2019 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) Partner’s Cup last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

Santos Go sizzled with 17 points while Kevin Guibao and Kenrick Abarquez tallied 27 points in between them for the Baby Jaguars, who could practically wrap up the juniors division crown if they could score a repeat performance over the Magis Eagles in Game 2 scheduled on Sunday.

Trailing by nine points after the first 10 minutes of play, 7-16, the Baby Jaguars suddenly came to life, launching a deadly 29-8 counter-attack to change the complexion of the match in their favor at halftime, 36-24.

The Baby Jaguars sustained their momentum after the break to preserve a double-digit advantage, 52-40, at the end of the third period.

The wards of coach Edito Salacut gamely held on their ground against a tough challenge by the Magis Eagles in the closing minutes of the contest to escape with a close but resounding fivepoint triumph.

Ariel Dinglasan and LA Casinillo paced the Magis Eagles with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

As of this writing last night, Game 1 of the seniors division finals between the ARQ Builders-University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers and the Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma Cobras was still being contested. — with