CEBU, Philippines – The Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles waylaid the Cebu Eastern College Dragons, 70-54 to complete an eight-game elimination round sweep in the juniors division of the 15th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. men's basketball tournament yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.
Eroll Pastor sparkled with 17 points for the Magis Eagles, who used a powerful 21-7 punch in the opening period to stagger the Dragons. The defending champions further ripped the game apart with a 19-point advantage at halftime, 36-17, leaving the Dragons in disarray the rest of the way.
With a perfect 8-0 record, the Magis Eagles of coach Rommel Rasmo advanced outright to the semifinal round together with the University of San Carlos Baby Warriors, who notched the No.2 spot with a 6-2 win-loss record after pulling off a nerve-wracking 83-79 win over the gritty University of the Visayas Baby Lancers.
The University of San Jose-Recoletos Baby Jaguars, on the other hand, upended the University of Southern Philippines Baby Panthers, 73-61, in their last assignment to finish with a 5-3 win-loss record identical with the University of the Cebu Junior Webmasters.
The Junior Webmasters, however, took the No.3 spot by virtue of a simple tie. Still, the Junior Webmasters and the Baby Jaguars will both enjoy twice-to-beat incentives against the Baby Panthers (4-4) and the Baby Lancers (4-4), respectively, in the quarterfinals that will begin on Tuesday.
The winners will figure in another round robin play with the Magis Eagles and the Baby Warriors in the semis. The top two teams will then clash for the championship in a best-of-three affair. (FREEMAN)