CEBU, Philippines - The Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras terminated defending champion University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters in convincing fashion, 70-56, to advance into the finals of the 12th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball season last night at the Cebu Coliseum.
Thus, the Cobras of celebrated coach Raul “Yayoy” D. Alcoseba arranged a titular showdown with the University of the Visayas (UV) Lancers starting next week.
In the juniors division, the UV Baby Lancers kept their title defense alive despite absorbing a huge 81-96 defeat at the hands of the top-seeded Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles.
UV's loss created a three-way tie with the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Wildcats and the Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Dragons on identical 1-2 win-loss records.
It was the Baby Lancers who advanced into the championship round for obtaining the highest quotient of 1.088 followed by CIT-U with 0.981 and CEC with 0.939.
In the collegiate battle, the Cobras, who knocked the Lancers out in the semifinals in a fight-marred game last season, last met in the finals when the CESAFI was still known as Cebu Amateur Athletic Association (CAAA) back in 1996.
The Cobras led all the way and used a blistering 13-0 blast bridging the third and fourth and quarters to rip the game part. Joseph Nalos drilled in back-to-back triples to start the final period and then 6-foot-6 Cameroonian center Justin Aboude completed consecutive three-point plays to push SWU ahead by 19 points, 64-45, at the final 6:54 mark of the contest.
Nalos paced the Cobras with 15 points as they also welcomed the return of Bonifacio Guillena III from an injury on a bright note.
Guillena and Aboude finished with a dozen markers apiece as they ended their semis campaign with a 2-1 slate, enough for them to earn the right to face the mighty UV Lancers in the best-of-five finals.
Cabrera fired 17 points for the Webmasters, while Quinton Brian Hereula added 15 points in a losing cause.
The scores
SWU (70) - Nalos 15, Aboude 12, Guillena 12, Bregondo 8, Mbala 7, Casquejo 7, Arong 4, Ortuyo 3, Dedace 1, Goloran 1
UC (56) -Cabrera 17, Hereula 15, Wagas 7, Gomez 6, Mohammad 3, Cueva 3,Sealana 3, Quilantang 2 (FREEMAN)