Cobras shock Red Warriors

Games today:

Cebu Coliseum

4:30 p.m. – UE vs. UV

6:30 p.m. – SWU vs. San Beda

THE M. LHUILLIER Kwarta Padala-Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras showed their readiness to hoist yet another trophy as they overcame a gritty comeback attempt by the University of the East Red Warriors to win, 59-54, in the MLKP Sinulog Cup yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.

The Cobras were loaded with talent and it paid off as they won the Cebu Basketball Association crown last year.

As if their roster was not stacked enough, head coach Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba went out and further deepened their talent pool as they added veteran wingman Ian Saladaga, University of Cebu ace guard Brian Heruela and Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa 2011 Camp MVP Mendzana Mballa.

Familiarity or lack thereof proved to be a challenge for the Cobras as they went without a single point for more than six minutes in the fourth period that allowed the Red Warriors to trim what was once a 19-point deficit to just two in the dying seconds.

The Cobras started off strong behind the three-point shooting of Giovanni Padillo and Mar Villahermosa as they led, 20-13, after the opening canto.

Eleazar Armecin joined in on the scoring parade by making two three-pointers and a lay-in that pushed SWU to a 40-27 lead at halftime.

The lead grew to 19, 47-28, off another trey by Villahermosa, near the start of the third stanza.

Dan Alberto canned a three for UE that bridged the gap to just two, 54-56, with 29.8 seconds left. UE had a chance to snatch the ball as former Cebu Eastern College guard BJ Zosa swiped the ball away from Jeff Viernes. But Zosa was called for a kick-ball violation, which gave the ball back to the Cobas.

Viernes sealed the game with three free-throws in the dying seconds. Mballa paced the Cobras with 11. Correspondent Jonas Panerio