UV battles SWU in KO match today

Mortal hardcourt rivals University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers and Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras will slug it out in a crucial match today for the last final berth of the 6th Asian University Basketball Championship (AUBC) Battle of Champions at the Cebu Coliseum.

An old adage in basketball that says “the ball is round” took its toll on the Lancers the other day when they suffered a horrible upset loss to the visiting University of Luzon (UL) Golden Tigers in overtime, 82-81. The stunner came when the Lancers needed only to win to gain outright berth into the championship round.

Their setback to the previously winless Golden Tigers entirely changed the landscape as the Lancers now need to subdue the Cobras in their 5:30 pm battle to reach the final without any glitch.

For the Cobras to stay in contention, they have to get past the Lancers by at least eight points.

For now, there’s no time for regrets and finger-pointing for the Lancers as all they have to do is to shackle the Cobras to keep their title hunt in motion.

The chief villain was Rodolfo Natavio, who heaved a desperate triple with two-tenths of a second left in the extra period. The balle swished directly through the rim, giving the Golden Tigers the winning basket while leaving the entire Lancers and their small throng of supporters flabbergasted in disbelief.

Natavio and Gerna Paul Sabordo combined for 19 points in the fourth and overtime period.

After Norman Ilao made it 79-80, Ritchum Dennison just split his charities, 81-79, with 7.3 ticks left before the final buzzer.

In the final possession, the Lancers mounted one good defense but UL’s Natavio weaved one big miracle as after he got hold of the ball, he quickly turned around then flicked a 3-pointer that hit nothing but the net.

“Galing sa itaas (It’s a blessing from heaven),” was the brief reply of UL coach Rene Jack Vidal when asked for comment on their monumental triumph over the title favorite and seven-time C ESAFI champion UV Lancers.

Against SWU, the pressure may be on UV’s side but the Lancers had been in similar situations before.

The burden is on the Cobras to achieve a bigger victory, something that is highly feasible most especially if they draw inspiration from their shocking conquest of the Lancers to rule the National Students Basketball Championships a few months ago.

As of this writing last night, Han Yang University of South Korea and Huaquiao University of China are still battling it out for the first final slot of this week-long tournament organized by BAP-SBP Region 7 director Lorenzo “Chao” Sy.