Baby Lancers, Magis Eagles begin title showdown today

CEBU, Philippines - The University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers and Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles begin today their best-of-five title duel in the juniors division of the 12th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball at the Cebu Coliseum.

Gametime is set at 5:30 pm.

Although they are the defending champion, the Baby Lancers will march into the battlefield as the underdogs as they have been beaten by the Magis Eagles twice already in lopsided fashion.

SHS-Ateneo hammered UV, 97-82, during their first meeting last August 30. The Magis Eagles reaffirmed their mastery over the Baby Lancers via a 96-81 decision last September 16.

The odds are really stuck against the Baby Lancers, who even barely made it to the championship round. They advanced only after obtaining the highest quotient following a triple tie with the Cebu Insitute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Wildkittens and the Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Dragons at the end of the semifinal phase.

For the Magis Eagles, this will be their third straight finals appearance. They have shown a significant improvement every year, making pundits believe that they are now ripe for the picking and eventually wipe out their Cinderella tag.

And with the way they tame their rivals, there seems to be no stopping the Magis Eagles from making history just like what the CEC Dragons did two years ago.

To achieve that goal, the Magis Eagles must squeeze the most from their top gunners in Henric Dawn Ochea, Arc Gabriel Araw-araw and Rendell Thomas Senining. They can also count on the likes of Miguel Competente, Jair Igna, Arnie Padilla, Fletcher Kriss Galvez, Giovanni Laguyo and Felixberto Jaboneta IV.

As usual, reigning juniors MVP Andres Paul Desiderio will be the most lethal weapon in the Baby Lancers' offensive arsenal.

But for the Baby Lancers to clip the wings of the soaring Magis Eagles, Desiderio needs to draw huge support from Gerald Fernandez, Prince Litton Cañete, Ralph Jude Dinolan, Leonard Santillan and Ernesto Limitares. (FREEMAN)