Lion Tiger-USJR avenges elims loss to San Marino

Games today (Cebu Coliseum)
5 p.m. – Kia Motors vs. San Marino
6:45 p.m. – Lion Tiger vs. Prime Asia

The Lion Tiger Aerosol-University of San Jose-Recoletos paid back the San Marino Corned Tuna-University of Southern Philippines Foundation for the loss that they suffered at the end of the quarterfinal round, as the Jaguars steamrolled over the Panthers, 79-62, in their semifinal encounter last Tuesday in the 6th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) Partner’s Cup at the Cebu Coliseum.

Still steaming over the, 60-68 loss that they suffered at the hands of San Marino last Sunday which stopped their winning streak in that round, the Jaguars rained down vengeance upon their foes last Tuesday with a strong second half performance that gave them full control of the match.

The game was still close at halftime with Lion Tiger leading, 41-33, but they started to get their groove in the ensuing canto when they led by 13 points, 59-36. The end came for San Marino as Popoy Sulaiman and Jayson Olbedado ran amok on offense leading to the one-sided victory which gave Lion Tiger the inside track on one of the two slots in the finals.

Sulaiman, a versatile forward who started his athletic career as a varsity volleyball player for USJ-R, topped the Jaguars with 25 points while Olbedado, a streaky wingman with a game similar to that of former star Lyndon Gudez, added 19 markers. James Regalado chipped in 11.

Today, Lion Tiger takes on the reigning champions, Prime Asia Pawnshop-University of the Visayas for the first ticket to the best-of-five finals series in the main offing set at 6:45 p.m.

San Marino will play to stay alive in the same playdate against the Kia Motors-Cebu Institute of Technology Wildcats at 5 p.m. USPF got 15 from burly forward Fritz Dajalos and 14 from feisty guard James Ferraren.