CESAFI Basketball 2006: Lancers score twin kill

Morsie Akad anchored a fourth period surge to carry the offensive load for the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers in scoring an 80-65 win over the University of the Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers yesterday in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball event at the Cebu Coliseum.

Earlier, the UV Baby Lancers defeated the Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) Wildkittens, 79-63, to complete a twin kill for the Visayanians.

When the Panthers threatened to come close in the fourth period being down by only four points, 59-83, at the start, Akad took matters into his own hands by scoring nine of his 19 points in the fourth period, including a triple that gave the Lancers their largest lead at 15 points, 80-65.

The Lancers completed a 6-0 sweep in the elimination and improved their win-lossrecord to 64-1 in a five-year reign.

Having the height advantage, the Lancers allowed the Panthers to get going in the first half where they engaged into a see-sawn battle but decided to let Rino Berame do his job at the paint where he forced his counterpart from USP, Clefford Maguate, into four fouls.

Berame finished with 18 points for the Lancers.

Earlier, the Panthers could not sustain their momentum going into the second half because they lack the playmakers to control the ball compared to the Lancers, who were starred by Von Harry Lanete, Ritchum Dennison, Chris Victor Diputado and Frangel Omolon.

Except for Berame, the other UV center were not potential scorers last night but too bad, USP ace center Maguare was also out of his element as he was outsmarted by Berame in all aspects not just in offense and defense but also in rebounding.

One bright offensive contributor last night was rookie Rodel Quinao, who was so effective in his perimeter jumpshots to back-up the scoring cudgels of Moncrief Rogado and Rivera.

Rogado topscored with 14 points while Quinao and Rivera had 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The missing links for the Panthers were Randy Colina and Dominic Ceniza, who only made two points each.

Earlier, Edrian Lao and Phil Mercader proved to be the 1-2 punch for the Baby Lancers as they led their team's offense. Lao had 19 points while Mercader had 14 points.

The win gave the Baby Lancers a 4-2 win-loss record while the Wildkittens dropped to 1-4.

The scores

First Game: Secondary

UV (79) - Lao 19, Mercader 15, Malagar 7, Espinas 7, Camay 6, Malig-on 5, Toring 4, Lacuna 4, Sagmon 3, Premacio 2, Gonzaga 2

CIT (63) - Augusto 31, Ybaez 15, Santos 9, Quiroga 5, Labagala 5, Taghoy 2, Aranas 2

Second Game: Collegiate

UV (80) - Akad 19, Berame 18, Rodriguez 14, Dennison 9, Omonon 5, Lanete 3, Canoy 3, Arda 2, Esperat 2, Manigque 2, Lasala 2, Sendrijas 1

USP (65) - Rogado 14, Quinao 12, Rivera 10, Demape 7, Mancera 6, Maguate 5, Ceniza 2, Colonia 2, Bardilas 1 Halftime: 40-35