THE UNIVERSITY of the Visayas Baby Lancers proved that they were not a one-trick pony as they came from behind in the final minute of the game to nip the University of San Carlos-South, 61-58, in the semifinals of the 16-under division A class of the 2012 ThreeSixty Pharmacy Cup yesterday at the Don Bosco gym in barangay Labangon.
The feat was made more impressive by the fact that they advanced to the finals without reigning Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. juniors MVP, Paul Desiderio, who was absent for unspecified reasons.
The Baby Warriors appeared to be on the verge of completing their own comeback from a 10-point deficit in the third period as they took a 58-54 lead with under a minute left in the match.
UV remained resilient as two free-throws from big man Leonard Santillan cut the deficit to two, 56-58. UV cranked the defensive pressure up and forced a turnover, which led to an undergoal stab by Ralph Dinolan that tied the count at 58-all.
In a stunning turn of events, USC South once more coughed the ball up and UV took advantage as Santillan stole the ball and got fouled.
He split his charities to give them a one-point lead but UV was not yet done as off the miss on the second free-throw, Gerald Fernandez was able to snatch the offensive rebound and peg the final count with two freebies./Correspondent Jonas Panerio