Araw-araw shines brightly as Magis Eagles soar in opener

CEBU, Philippines - The Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles toiled hard at cruchtime to hack out a precarious 80-76 win over defending champion University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers and draw the first blood in the best-of-five juniors division finals of the 12th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) basketball season at the Cebu Coliseum.

Heady pointguard Arc Gabriel Araw-araw knocked in a booming 3-pointer and then hit the go-ahead basket with 13.7 seconds to go before Felixberto Jaboneta, Jr. calmly sank the insurance free throws for the Magis Eagles, who are seeking for a commanding 2-0 lead tomorrow.

The Magis Eagles, who defeated the Baby Lancers for three consecutive times already this season, took a 35-27 lead incidentally on Araw-araw's triple with 5:15 left in the second quarter, but the Baby Lancers responded with a 10-0 blast to wrest the driver's seat, 37-35.

It took the Magis Eagles a lot of patience in the entire second half as the Baby Lancers established a double-digit edge, 62-52, with 30 seconds remaining in the third period.

Henric Dawn Ochea, who was grounded by UV's porous defense, finished with only eight points but his intimidating presence at the post put some of the the Baby Lancers in foul trouble especially Ralph Dinolan.

Ochea teamed up with Jaboneta and Fletcher Galvez in patrolling the shaded lane, while Araw-araw and Giovanni Laguyo tended the backcourt with precision along with Rendell Senining, who finished with 14 points.

It was Araw-araw, however, who shone the brightest with 20 points spotlighted by a crucial trey that put the Magis Eagles in front for good, 75-73.After UV's top hitman and reigning MVP Andres Paul Desiderio knotted the count for the last time at 76-all with 50 seconds lef to play, Araw-araw capped his game-long brilliance with a short-range jumper that towed the Magis Eagles ahead for good, 78-76.

The Baby Lancers could have tied the score anew, but Ernesto Limitares committed a costly error when he stepped on the sideline. In the ensuing sequence, Jaboneta converted his gift shots to ice the match for the Magis Eagles, who survived despite a bad game from Jair Igna.

Galvez chipped in 10 markers to underscore SHS-Ateneo's balanced offensive. Desiderio paced the Baby Lancers with 31 points.

The scores

SHS-AdC (80) - Araw-araw 20, Senining 14, Galvez 10, Ochea 8, Igna 8, Jaboneta 8, Laguyo 7, Ecarma 2, Cercado 2

UV (76) - Desiderio 31, Escalona 11, Manzo 10, Dinolan 9, Limitares 6, Cabanilla 3, Canete 2, Suan 2

Halftime: 39-42 (FREEMAN)