CBA semifinal round kicks off

Games today:

Cebu Coliseum

4 p.m. – ACT vs. Rollway

6 p.m. – Ave Maria vs. SWU

From festive to competitive, that will be the mood change that will be experienced today over at the Cebu Coliseum as the semifinal round of the Cebu Basketball Association-M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala Mayor’s Cup Basketball Tournament gets underway with a double-header starting at 4 p.m.

The top-seeded Asian College of Technology Cyber Knights face off against the Rollway Customs Brokerage in the opening tiff at 4 p.m. while the Ave Maria Sanctuary and Park battles the Southwestern University in the main game set at 6 p.m.

Five teams were tied with identical 3-2 (win-loss) records at the end of the elimination round last Sunday, forcing the organizers to break the tie with the quotient system. When the dust cleared, it was the reigning champions, Akira-Salazar Colleges of Science and Institute of Technology that got the boot by virtue of their 0.96276, the lowest of the bunch.

ACT got the highest with 1.04638 while Ave Maria got next with 1.018. SWU was third with 0.98919 while Rollway hung on to the last ticket to the next round with 0.984.

The winners of today’s games will advance to the best-of-three finals series, which begins immediately tomorrow at the same venue.

The Knights are heading into the semis with momentum as they are on a three-game winning streak after losing their first two outings. With Mark Magsumbol, Stephen Padilla, Jan Villaver and Ronald Bucao finally hitting their stride, ACT have stamped their class as a team to watch at this point in the tournament. Rollway though, remains a dangerous opponent after winning their final assignment last Friday, 94-89, over Ave Maria.

The Cobras of head coach Yayoy Alcoseba are raring for some payback after they got beaten by Ave Maria, 98-99, in their lone encounter earlier in the competition.

SWU will lean on their vaunted PBA D-League players, namely Jeff Viernes and former San Beda guard, Jessmar Villahermosa to carry the squad alongside Abby Santos and Justin Aboude./Correspondent Jonas Panerio