UV wins in SBP Passerelle regionals

ROXAS CITY, Philippines - The University of the Visayas teams scored wins in contrasting fashion to kick off their stint at the Visayas Regional Finals of the SBP Passerelle Tournament backed by Milo at the Capiz Gymnasium.

The UV Passerelle team escaped from what could’ve been a huge upset as Joshua Canoy calmly sank two free throws with no time left to nip Hercor College of Roxas, 53-52.

Meanwhile, the UV SBP Lancers had a more methodical and easier win, trouncing Colegio de la Purisima College of Roxas, 60-35.

 After drawing Hercor College for their first game, it seemed that UV would have an easy start, owing to Roxas’s history of always finishing in the tail-end of every Visayas Regional Finals.

But the hosts had something else in mind. After converting a 24-21 halftime lead a 36-22 cushion at the end of the third quarter, UV had a major collapse in the pay-off period as Hercor rallied from the get go, tying the lead at 44-all with 3:30 left.

 The Hercor rally gave the team more momentum as they took a 51-47 lead with 48 seconds left in the game.

UV finally woke up as split charities from Jose Zaldy Dizon, Francyl Basalo and a close range shot of Joshua Canoy tied the game at 51-all with 18 seconds remaining. Joel Tiad made a free throw to give Hercor a 52-51 lead with 15 ticks left.

Victory was imminent for Hercor when UV’s Christian Jay Alilin was called for a travelling violation with 10 seconds left.

 With UV fouling to stop the clock, Jade Balgos missed two free throws with eight seconds left, giving UV one last chance. Canoy then grabbed the rebound, went coast to coast for a lay-up and was fouled as the buzzer sounded. He easily made both charities sending the UV team to a frenzy. Steve Nash Enriquez led UV with 13 while Canoy made eight, including six in the fourth quarter.

 After watching the thrilling win of their elder counterparts, the UV SBP team made sure there wouldn’t be a replay, jumping to a 21-6 lead after the first period and never look back.

They streaked to a 36-12 and 52-21 leads at halftime and end of the third quarter before slowing down. Mike Monton led UV’s balanced attack with 11 points. Joshmar Canoy added nine, all on triples.

 In the other Passerelle game, pre-tournament favorite Bacolod Tay Tung High School won over St. Roberts International Academy of Iloilo, 51-43. University of St. La Salle of Bacolod defeated Hua Siong College of Iloilo, 55-38, in the other SBP game.

The format of the Visayas regional finals is a single round robin classification phase, with the top two teams facing off for the championship and the other two playing for third place. (FREEMAN)