Suliman sizzles as USJ-R goes 3-0 in CESAFI cagefest

CEBU, Philippines - Abulaiz Suliman sparkled with 21 points as the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars cruised to a 89-72 victory over defending champion University of Cebu (UC)Webmasters in the 12th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) men's basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum.

Miguel Tabaloc chipped in 14 points and Medjet de la Rama added for the Jaguars, who firmed up their grip of the overall lead with an immaculate 3-0 record. The Webmasters slipped to 1-2.

Mark Lancer Friolo's lone 3-pointer of the match gave the Jaguars their largest lead at 20 points, 89-69, with only 30 seconds to play.

Compounding the Webmasters' woes was the unsportsmanlike foul assessed on Jan Michael Auditor, who was caught by the referee stripping the foot of the fast-breaking Matthew Parker.

Robinson Mohammad scored 20 points but could not bail the Webmasters out of disaster. Kim Gomez fired 15 markers and Auditor netted 11 in a losing effort.

The missing link for the Webmasters was star guard Quinton Brian Heruela, who was hobbled by the pesky defense of Suliman, Tabaloc and Matthew Parker to finish with a season low nine points.

The Webmasters trailed by 17 points late in the second period, 18-31, but trimmed the gap down to just four points at halftime, 31-35. That was UC's lone bright moment though as USJ-R was in complete command in the final half.

The scores

USJ-R (89) - Suliman 21, Tabaloc 14, Dela Rama 11, Sanchez 9, M. Parker 7, Regalado 6, C. Parker 5, Olbedado 4, Friolo 3, Abing 2, Capillar 2, Lajato 2, Medalle 1

 UC (72) - Mohammad 20, Gomez 15, Auditor 10, Heruela 9, Cueva 8, Wagas 5, Cabrera 3, Asis 2 (FREEMAN)