The University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers put a stamp to their claim as the best in the country as they captured the national championship in the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) National Under-16 Basketball Championships in emphatic fashion, beating the Sacred Heart of Jesus-Montessori, 120-75, in the finals yesterday at the University of Baguio gym in Baguio City.
The victory capped off what was a successful stint for the Baby Lancers, especially since they were just the replacement squad after the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles—the Milo BEST national champions—begged off from the competition because of academic reasons.
Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. juniors MVP Andres Paul Desiderio was once again at the center of the offensive storm for the Baby Lancers as he notched 33 points to lead the way.
The performance was his second straight 33-point outing after torching the University of Sto. Tomas Baby Growling Tigers for the same amount of points in their semifinal matchup the other day.
However, Desiderio, a native of Liloan, was not alone in his conquest as he had plenty of help from his teammates. Leonard Santillan notched 24 points while Ralf Jude Dinolan added 20 markers. Gerald Fernandez was also a force to be reckoned with as he added 18 points in what was a lopsided rout.
UV basketball team manager, Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas was ecstatic upon receiving the result of the championship game.
“I’m so proud of my boys,” he said. “I’d like to thank the UV administration for their all-out support even though everyone counted us out.”
“I would also like to thank Ateneo de Cebu for giving us the chance to prove that Cebu basketball is far from being dead. Ateneo is the Milo national champions while UV is the SBP national champions. This just goes to show the kind of talent and passion we Cebuanos have for this game. This is a victory not only for UV but for the whole of Cebu as well.”