CEBU, Philippines - The odds are almost even when two basketball titans, nine-time champion University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers and the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters, start their best-of-five championship series in the collegiate division of the 10th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) season today at the Cebu Coliseum.
Games today
(Cebu Coliseum)
4:30 pm CEC vs. SHS-Ateneo (jrs. finals)
6 pm UV vs. UC (srs. finals)
Likewise, the juniors finals could go into higher dimension as the Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Dragons and the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles are both gunning for a school record.
From being the traditional doormat, the Dragons soared into league powerhouse, while the Magis Eagles, the only team to beat the UV Baby Lancers twice this season, evolved into giant killers from simply a crown pretender last season.
UV and UC went 1-1 this year. The Lancers won in the elimination round, 82-79, but the Webmasters charged back in the semifinals, 68-63.
Ditto with CEC and SHS-Ateneo. The Dragons won their initial meeting last July 31, 90-87, but the Eagles made a bigger impact as they prevented CEC from completing a three-game sweep in the semis via an 84-79 decision.
Six-foot-nine center Junemar Fajardo is again expected to carry the offensive load for the Webmasters and by exploiting his size, he is almost unstoppable at the undergoal. The presence of bull-strong forward Edward Pao, guard Quinton Brian Heruela and ace playmaker Kelvin Juliane are an added boost to their campaign.
This will be the third time in the 10-year-old CESAFI that the Lancers and the Webmasters meet in the finals but the Lancers always prevailed in those instances.
What UV and UC have in common aside from being dominant teams is that their respective school owners are both lawyers, Eduardo R. Gullas and Augusto W. Go, and both are born in October.
Go celebrates his birthday on October 11 and Gullas on October 13. Therefore, whoever wins the crown will surely dedicate it to their school boss.
The Lancers will rely on their guards when their quickness and speed are deemed necessary than putting up a battle at the post as Harold Cincoflores, Eman Calo, Phil Mercader and John Michael Abad can score when their services are needed most.
Meanwhile, the Dragons will bank on the likes of Nike Montalvo, James Neil Sumayang, Roy Villarias, Benjamin James Zosa and Johnmar Lou Regidor.
The Magis Eagles, for their part, will count the most from Adrian Roland Muller, Adven Jess Diputado, Henry Renzal Asilum, Bradley Bacaltos and Julius Salvador Cadavis. (THE FREEMAN)