CEBU, Philippines - Joseph Sedurifa sparked a furious endgame rally to power the Lion Tiger-USPF Panthers to a 72-69 upset of the Gaisano Capital South-UC Webmasters in the second round of the Enervon CESAFI Partner's Cup 2013 men's basketball tournament last Tuesday night at the Cebu Coliseum.
Meanwhile, the undefeated Prime Asia Lending-UV Lancers and the Cebu Landmasters-USC Warriors will travel to the northern Cebu town of San Remigio for an out-of-town game tonight. Prime Asia seeks to extend his sizzling run to nine games in a row against the second-ranked Cebu Landmasters, which totes a 5-3 win-loss record.
Sedurifa, who unloaded a game-high 25 points, caught fire in the fourth period where he helped his team in controlling the game with his experience and floor leadership.
Art Camello also had a huge game, knocking in the go-ahead basket for Lion Tiger, 69-67, with 34 seconds left to play.
After Matt Batucan converted only one of his twin gift shots for a 70-67 Lion Tiger lead with 18 seconds to go, Gaisano's Cameroonian recruit Arnud Noah scored on a quick basket to pull his team within just a hairline, 69-70, with only 15 seconds remaining.
Noah could have sent the game into overtime after Lawrence Escanilla made only one foul throw for Lion Tiger, 71-69, but his undergoal stab rattled out of the rim.
In the game's final sequence, Sedurifa only split his charities but it was more than enough to seal Lion Tiger's third win in nine starts.
Noah and Gerald Ampoon scattered 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Gaisano Capital, which dropped to third place in the standing with a 5-4 win-loss card.
The double round elimination ends on Saturday with three games on tap at the Cebu Coliseum. The semifinal round will follow wherein the barangayan format will no longer be in effect.
The scores
Lion Tiger (72) - Sedurifa 25, Pogoy 8, Camello 8, Ceniza 8, Escanilla 5, Batucan 3, Mangaron 3, Delalamon 3, Cando 3, Sollano 2, Cavalida 2
Gaisano Capital (69) - Noah 11, Ampoon 10, Misa 8, Montilla 6, Auditor 6, Smith 5, Cabrera 4, Miranda 4, Quintao 4, Yburan 3, Tamparong 3, Sigasig 1