The USJ-R/Bibbo Hotdog seeks its fifth straight victory against Don Bosco/Unilab-Alaxan tonight as the Reinforced Partner’s Cup goes to its second round of elimination at the Inayawan gym, this city.
The Jaguars topped the first round with a 4-0 slate after an easy 112-102 victory over the UC-Aspac Bank last Sunday at the Cebu Coliseum.
USJ-R/Bibbo Hotdog let UC’s 6’7” slotman Jun Mar Fajardo operate in the paint but prevented other UC players from contributing significantly in offense.
Games today:
(Inayawan)
6:30 pm DBTC/Unilab-Alaxan vs.
USJR/Bibbo Hotdog
8 pm CIT/Metro Gaisano vs. UC/Aspac Bank
The Jaguars struck hardest in the third period where they erected a 90-65 lead with still 2:28 minutes that it never relinquished despite repeated rallies by UC.
Luther Luke Justiniani, who topscored for USJ-R/Bibbo Hotdog with 23 points, was unstoppable in the first half as he towed the team to a 63-47 advantage.
From there, USJ-R padded their lead to 67-47 in the third period but UC switched to a pressing defense and cut the lead to 63-75 with 5:20 remaining in the third period.
USJ-R played tit-for-tat and employed their variety of defense that fueled a 15-2 run for its largest lead 90-65.
Fajardo and Jonathan Canceran tried to fight back but UC muffed a number of easy baskets to go down to its defeat in four games.
Four other Jaguars scored in double figures with Hatague and Ponce netted 12 points apiece while Gudez and Malinao had 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Canceran scored 22 points for UC with Ortiguesa scoring 13 points and Abellanosa had 12.
The scores:
USJR/Bibbo Hotdog (112) – Justiniani 23, Hatague 12, Ponce 12, Gudez 11, Malinao 10, Pateño 8, Pogoy 7, Villahermosa 7, Delfino 6, Gabas 5, Eguia 5, Lapiz 3, Bibera 2
UC/Aspac Bank (102) – Fajardo 27, Canceran 22, Ortiguesa 13, Abellanosa 12, Agas 6, Ceniza 5, Flanco 4, Luceño 4, Del Rosario 3, Abella 2, Abatayo 2, Juliane 2, Espinoza 2
Halftime: 63-47