CIT-U Wildcats pull off rare twinkill in CESAFI

CEBU, Philippines — Coach Edsel Vallena returned from a two-game suspension with a loud bang, powering the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Wildcats to a rare twinkill in the 2022 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) men’s basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum last night.

In the college division, the Wildcats amazingly overhauled a 20-point deficit in the second half, and then went strong in overtime to stun the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors, 76-72, for their first triumph of the season.

The Wildcats trailed by a mile, 31-51, but countered with a deadly 33-10 blast to seize the upper hand, 64-61, behind seven straight points by Josiah Villamayor with 40 seconds remaining in the regulation period.

After Froilan Mangubat scored on a barreling drive that put USC within 63-64, he could have wrapped up the win for the Warriors but only split his charities with 1.7 seconds remaining, hence, the five-minute extension.

In the extra period, the Wildcats rattled the first four points. The Warriors closed in at 67-68 but the Wildcats quickly raced to a 73-69 egde, which they protected until the final buzzer.

John Jabonete tallied 16 points, Jessie Aloro had 15, while Ace Rondina added 11 points as the Wildcats snapped out of their two-game slide to forge a 1-2 tie with the Warriors.

In the juniors division, the CIT-U Baby Wildcats weathered a fierce endgame resistance by UCLM (University of Cebu Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue (UCLM) to walk away with a thrilling 68-63 victory.

The Baby Wildcats suffered a huge offensive meltdown after cruising to a 47-26 advantage at halftime but gamely held on their ground when it mattered most to escape with a five-point win, their first in two starts.

Niel John Castro showed the way for the Baby Wildcats with 18 points followed by Lawrence Mangubat  with 16 markers.

John Aaron Baltazar and Zyldjone Azrell Asuncion combined for 33 points but to no avail as UCLM absorbed its second loss in three games.

In the other result, the University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers slammed the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Baby Jaguars, 92-78, for a perfect 2-0 mark.

France Gabunada sizzled with 23 points, Denisse Ryan Sinoy scored 20, while John de la Torre added 18 points for the Baby Lancers who trailed by four, 20-24, after the first period.

But the Baby Lancers retaliated with a searing 37-28 rally to establish a 15-point lead, 57-42, at the break for good. They further ripped the game apart after three quarters, 81-62, and never looked back from thereon.