CEBU, Philippines - It’s now back to square one.
With the series tied at one game apiece, top seeded teams Hotel Fortuna/SWU Cobras and Enervon/UC Webmasters will once again try to grab finals slots against their lower-ranked rivals in today’s double knockout match of the 3rd CESAFI Partners’ Cup at the Cebu Coliseum.
Games today
(Cebu Coliseum)
5 pm Enervon/UC vs. Ame Maria/USJR
6:30 pm Hotel Fortuna/SWU vs. Prime Asia/UV
The Cobras, who suffered their first loss in the tournament after 10 games, will face Prime Asia/UV Lancers for the fourth time in the main game today at 6:30 pm. They lost to the Lancers in Game 2 of their best-of-three series, 79-90, the other day.
Likewise, No. 2 seed Enervon/UC Webmasters forged a winner-take-all affair after scoring an emphatic 86-69 victory over the fourth-ranked Ave Maria/USJ-R Jaguars in a physical game that resulted into three technical fouls - two from the Jaguars and one from the Webmasters.
Frustrations were painted on the faces of the Jaguars who were trailing by as much as 26 points in the third canto, 26-52, when Jerome Villaver was whistled for an unsportsmanlike foul against UC’s beanpole June Mar Fajardo. Later, John Malinao was slapped with a technical of the same nature when he lobbed the leather on the face of UC sentinel Kelvin Juliane.
With the Webmasters still leading by a mile, 78-61, Fajardo lost his patience because of the Jaguars’ Hack-a-June Mar ploy and in the process was called for a technical foul for throwing an elbow to pesky defender Kurt Amores with 3:57 left to play.
Fajardo dominated the paint with authority to finish with 23 points, while Moncrief Rodago added 20 markers for the Webmasters. They got sufficient support from Janssen Abella, Edward Pao and Juliane with 32 points combined.
Armand Ponce paced the Jaguars with a game-high 25 points, while rookie Jose Ricardo Llera, Jr. had 10 points.
The scores
Enervon/UC (86) - Fajardo 23, Rogado 20, Abella 12, Pao 10, Juliane 10, Ramos 6, Quilantang 2, Babad 2
Ave Maria/USJR (69) - Ponce 25, Llera 10, Villaver 8, Lapiz 7, Delfino 6, Amores 4, Montenegro 2, Abing 2, Pateño 2, Suliman 2 (THE FREEMAN)