Stuff of champions

Sunstar
September 28, 2007

BASED on the first game, this year’s semifinals of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. may not be for the faint of heart.

The crowd at the Cebu Coliseum last Wendesday was treated to an exciting battle that saw Green Lancers surviving, albeit barely, a gritty University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars, 80-79, in Game 1 of their semifinals series.

The win enabled the defending champion to place one foot in the final round.

All it needs now is to continue to suppress the Jaguars, who had never shown this much brass even in their win over the Lancers in the elimination round.

Armed with determination of a fighting squad, the Jaguars had the Lancers struggling in the early goings of the game, and it even looked as if the Lancers were up for another shameful loss.

The Jaguars went on to lead by as much as 18 points in the first half, rattling the Lancers, who could not find their target.

The half-time break gave the Lancers a chance to regroup and they put their game face on when they returned.

The Lancers, anchored by Rino Berame, Ariel Mepana Mike Luga and Ritchum Dennison, rallied back with a 20-4 run to overturn the game’s tempo in their favor, 63-59, going into the final frame.

The Jaguars were not willing to give up right away. As the Lancers strutted their usual form, the Jaguars still managed to keep up with their opponent as they tied the game at 76 behind a three-pointer from Jabe Delfino in the 1:17 mark.

UV snatched the lead back, 78-76 when Berami went past a pack of Jaguars with less than a minute left.

Various calls from the referees, which were against the team they were rooting for, earned the ire of some spectators that led one to throw a bottle of beverage.

Bottle

That bottle flew just over the side of a special guest, former PBA commissioner Noli Eala, who was enjoying the game.

Fortunately, they were pacified right away by the commissioners Felix Tiukinhoy and his deputy Danny Duran.

By this time, every single person in the coliseum was at the edge of their seats as USJ-R had two chances of winning.

Delfino had the opportunity to score the winning triple in less than 20 seconds, but the ball just bounced off the ring.

After another turnover, Ryan Arpay took his position at the left flank in the final two seconds, hit a pressure-packed triple but still missed his target.

Chris Diputado grabbed the rebound, forcing the Jaguars to foul him.

With two charities, victory was so imminent that Dennison went hugging the court banging his fist in sheer joy as the mighty Lancers were saved from what looked like another bashing.

Diputado sank in his two freethrows to assure them of the win before Delfino beat the buzzer with a triple, but that was not enough to overturn the decision.

Luga, who was the All-Stars MVP, led UV with 20 points, while USJ-R was led by Lyndon Gudez who had 13 markers.

The Lancers though still could not celebrate as they still need to win Game 2 this Sunday still at the Cebu Coliseum.