Baby Lancers overcome Dragons, win 4th straight
The University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers banked on a solid endgame show coupled with lucky breaks to scrape through a 54-50 thriller over the tough-fighting Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Dragons in the 19th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) men’s basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum last night.
Vaunted sharp-shooter Albert Sacayan almost single-handedly carry UV with 20 points on top of seven rebounds and three assists as the Baby Lancers coasted to their fourth straight victory, a great recovery from their disappointing 46-87 loss to the undefeated front-runner University of Cebu (UC) Baby Webmasters during their first game.
Before fortifying their hold of the second second spot in juniors division standings with a 4-1 record, the Baby Lancers had to toil hard in the entire 40-minute skirmish as the Dragons led for most of the way, the largest stood at 38-31 count late in the first half.
The Baby Lancers, however, fought back with finesse to erase the deficit and eventually wrest the upper hand, 44-41, before making it 51-45 at the final 2:39 mark of the contest.
The Dragons did manage to close within 52-53 on a basket by Blaire Buisa with only 28 seconds left to play. They even had a chance to steal the win but fumbled after they committed a costly passing error.
To buy time, the Dragons made two consecutive fouls against the Baby Lancers that put them in the penalty situation with only four ticks remaining.
After Fritz Banzon split his charities, lady fortune still smiled at the Baby Lancers as Franzel Basalo pulled down the offensive board, then wisely held the ball until the gameclock expired.
Buisa finished with 13 points while Winston Bingil nailed 11 markers but to no avail as the Dragons suffered their second straight loss and third overall in six games.