CEBU, Philippines - The University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers last night survived three spirited rallies by the University of Cebu (UC) Junior Webmasters to eke out an 85-76 victory and take the temporary lead in the secondary division of the 10th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) at the Cebu Coliseum.
As of this writing, the UV Lancers were playing against the depleted University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors as they gun for their third straight victory. The 1-1 Warriors were joined for the first time by Michael Cantonao, Jr. who missed two games due to chicken pox.
Gerald Legarde imposed his intimidating presence and acted as floor leader when he helped the Baby Lancers in thwarting a third quarter rally by the Junior Webmasters, who pulled within 45-55 after a 29-44 deficit. Legarde led the Baby Lancers with 22 points.
The Junior Webmasters again made an audacious run to start the fourth period where they staged a 10-0 blitz sparked by John Raphale Aranas and Avlin Labolabo to pull within eight points, 61-69, with still 6:13 left to play.
Lucky Suan broke UV's silence to make it 71-61. Interestingly, we was also the first UV player to score in the fourth period.
The third time the Junior Webmasters staged a last ditch rally was when the Baby Lancers already maitained a double-digit lead.
Aranas topscored for the 1-1 Junior Webmasters with 21 points followed by Labolabo with 15 points.
The scores
UV (85) - Legarde 22, Mendoza 14, Suan 14, Aguirre 10, Smith 7, Dennison 5, Cenita 3, Dela Torre 2, Undaloc 2
UC (76) - Aranas 21, Labolabo 15, Yburan 9, Talisic 7, Comendador 6, Otida 6, Pua 4, Culango 4, Nemeño 2, Legaspi 2 Halftime: 44-29. – THE FREEMAN