CESAFI Finals: All of the Above

All of the above. That’s our reply to a multiple answer question on what happened at the recent CESAFI Championship series for the collegiate division for basketball which the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers won, 3-2, after being down 0-2 in the series. You name it, it had it. Drama? Thrilling wins? Dominating teams? Overtime? Full-house crowd? Players thrown out? Water bottles? Even a malfunctioning scoreboard? We had all that and so much more in what could go down as the most memorable CESAFI championship series in history. This could even top the UV-USC wars from 2007-2008, the UV-UC Slaughter/Fajardo rivalry and the most recent UC-SWU showdowns.

Where does one begin? At 2-0. On the verge of winning its second straight CESAFI basketball title, SWU was oozing with confidence of a 14-0 winning streak. They lived up to the pre-tournament hype as favorites to win it all. Eliminations? Sweep. Semis? Sweep again. Finals? Sweep, the first two games. UV returned the sweep streak by winning the next three games to win the championship. Game 1 was an ugly game for both sides and the lesser “ugly” team came out on top, 64-52. SWU then flashed their 14-0 form in Game 2 and came out on top with a convincing 73-60 win that led many to think that it was almost over (this writer included). But boy did the fans get its money’s worth when UV bounced back in Game 3 with a confidence-boosting double overtime 89-82 win that somehow recharged the lackadaisical Lancers who were criticized for being soft and heartless in Games 1 and 2. Ironically, Game 3 was the turning point of the series for both sides. UV’s confidence was boosted tremendously, knowing that they could beat the Cobras. The momentum carried over to Game 4 where they started out like a house on fire, leading by as many 16 points before settling for a 43-29 halftime lead. SWU managed to stage an end-game rally, but by this time UV’s confidence level was at a different level that it simply refused to surrender. The Lancers prevailed, 71-66, but more importantly, they were fired up, confident and carrying “enlarged” hearts that nobody had ever seen before. On the other hand, the Cobras seemed to be “lost” with the loss. After all, didn’t they dominate the very same team throughout the season?

All this set the stage for the wildest Game 5 in collegiate basketball history. By noontime, tickets were reportedly sold out for the 4pm game. Gates were closed around 3pm with many fans still wanting to get inside to witness history in the making. Sanciangko was reduced to a single lane in front of the entrance area of Cebu Coliseum. With the venue packed as early as 2:30 pm, all pre-game activities were dominated by the supporters of both sides. The bands played while the fans yelled and cheered before the two teams that went through their stretching and pre-game shoot-around. Game time was still an hour and a half away. And then the drama started (or should we call it sitcom?) With UV leading 8-5 and 4:45 left in the first quarter, the scoreboard and shot clock on the UV side conked out. No big deal for UV at this point since it was SWU shooting at this goal. Play resumed with an announcement that the scoreboard would be repaired if the technician arrived at halftime. Halftime came and no technician arrived and so we had the longest halftime break in CESAFI history. Stalemated with UV on top 29-28 was the entire Cebu Coliseum crowd of an estimated 10,000 fans that included Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama, Cong. Samsam Gullas, Cong. Bebot Abellanosa and a host many others. The game wouldn’t resume if the scoreboard wasn’t repaired, and so we all feared for the worst. In the wheeling and dealing between the two sides, Mayor Rama and Commissioner Felix Tiukinhoy tried to make the best out of the situation. A solution was reached. SWU Coach Yayoy Alcoseba offered not to switch sides at the half and continue shooting at the UV goal even without a shot clock and a scoreboard functioning. It was all set until the scoreboard and shot clock on the SWU side also malfunctioned! No scoreboard, no Game 5? After another series of talks, both sides agreed to resume with the game, with or without a working scoreboard. But we did have a scoreboard on hand: two portable white boards with accompanying white board markers. Pictures of the scoreboard went viral on Facebook and the rest is history. Mano-mano na. The game time and shot clock was manually announced by the suddenly overworked game barker who had to shout against a throng of 10,000 loud fans.

Back to the game. Never slowing down from Game 3 despite the long break, UV launched a 12-0 run to start off the third quarter. SWU would claw its way back into the game, tying the score at 60-all courtesy of a Macmac Tallo bank shot trey with 2:10 left in the game. Wowie Escosio, who had UV’s last 11 points of the game, made it 62-60 with 1:23 left. Bernie Bregondo tied it at 62-all off an offensive rebound a few seconds later. Somewhere in between, Escosio and SWU’s Landry Sanjo and Bregondo all missed follow up attempts from point blank that had the crowd stunned. Then it happened. With seven seconds left, UV ‘s Djountcheu Nzeusseu, a.k.a. Mike Harry drove to the hoop but his left handed lay-up was a little strong, dropping into the waiting hands of Escosio who quickly put it back into the goal for the game-winning basket with 0.7 ticks left in the game. SWU had one last crack at tying the game but Tallo’s attempt wasn’t even close. Series over!

All of the above.

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Time-out: After all this, will Cebu ever get a sports complex that it deserves? Can we transfer the Hoops Dome to the city? >>> You can reach me at [email protected].