Magis Eagles bask in another historic feat

CEBU, Philippines - The Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles squandered a huge lead twice, but hung on tough at the endgame to repulse the gritty University of the Visayas Baby Lancers, 73-66, in the deciding match of their best-of-three finals series and clinch the juniors division championship of the  14th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. men's basketball tournament last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

It was another historic moment for the Magis Eagles having won their first ever back-to-back titles in Cebu's premiere inter-school athletic league.

Before reaching the summit of success though, the Magis Eagles went through some rough moments as they lost two big leads, the first was at 26-5 late in the first quarter and then at 54-30 under the three-minute mark of the third period.

The Magis Eagles, however, played steadier down the stretch and did not crumble when the Baby Lancers staged a courageous fightback to pull within just three points, 64-67, with only 1:38 left to play.

Sensing danger, the Magis Eagles countered with a 4-0 blitz for a 71-64 breather with less than a minute remaining. Felixberto "Janjan" Jaboneta then sealed the deal for the jubilant Ateneans with two hits from the foul line.

SHS-Ateneo coach Rommel Rasmo said he was thankful that his players did not give up when the game was on the line. "Tumawag ako ng time out at sinabi ko sa kanila na just stay focused and continue play good defense," he said.

The Baby Lancers, known for being relentless on their attacks, outscored the Magis Eagles in the second period, 16-9, capped by a buzzer-beating triple by John Carl Escola at the midcourt that cut their deficit to a manageable 12 points, 23-35, at halftime.

The Baby  Lancers again outscored the Magis Eagles in the third canto, 22-17, and for the entire fourth period, they kept on coming close only to fall short in the end.

"It's a great championship for us," said SHS-AdC President Fr. Manuel Uy, S.J.

UV coach Jun Pepito said SHS-Ateneo's strong opening assault brought the heaviest damage on their part.

He was correct. Theo Joshua Flores, one of their star players, was shut down by the Magis Eagles in the first quarter and finished with only eight points.

Compounding UV's woes, its  other big man Jan Dominic Morre was ejected with still 3:19 left in the first period after incurring two successive unsportsmanlike fouls and the Magis Eagles leading, 16-3. After starting the game with a 12-1 bang, the Magis Eagles left the Baby Lancers groping for form the rest of the way.

Jaboneta, who was named as the regular season MVP, finished with 16 points, but it was the big games of Joshua Sinclair and Jose Piero Dominic Longa that mattered most for the Magis Eagles. Sinclair powered the Magis Eagles to their second straight title with a scintillating 27-point performance, while Longa was equally-impressive with his 21-point explosion spiked with five triples.

Orlan Wamar and Escalona topscored for the Baby Lancers with 21 and 20 points, respectively. Escalona couldn't hold back his tears while sitting on their waiting for his name to be called as member of the Mythical Five. It cannot be denied that Wamar and Escalona fought hard in order for UV to win but the Magis Eagles, apparently hurt by their 56-59 loss in Game 2, wanted it more.

The scores

SHS-AdC (73) — Sinclair 27, Longa 21, Jaboneta 16, Huang 5, Araw-araw 2, Co 2

UV (66) — Wamar 21, Escalona 20, Cabahug 15, Flores 8, Schaub 2 (FREEMAN)