The defending champions Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles took the top spot in group A in the Passerelle division of the 2012 Milo-backed Best Twin Tournament Cebu leg yesterday after they upended rival Chinese school Cebu Eastern College, 57-51, at the SHS-AdC basketball courts along Mango Avenue, Cebu City.
The victory was their third in a row and it gave the Eagles a sweep of their games in the elimination round to notch the top seed heading to the semifinal round next weekend.
The win did not come easy as SHS-AdC had to weather a furious comeback attempt by CEC in the fourth period.
The Dragons were down by as many as 16, 21-37, at halftime but came roaring back in the final canto and were within four, 48-52, after a three-pointer and a free-throw by Mark Berdera.
The Eagles found an unlikely savior in Popoy Navarro, who hit a layup off a nice cut to the basket and followed that up with a short jumper which stemmed the tide en route to the win.
Jair Igna and Janjan Jaboneta each had 10 points to lead the Eagles.
GROUP B LEADERS
The University of the Visayas took top honors in group B after it finished with a 3-0 mark following its 57-44 win over Don Bosco-A yesterday.
The University of San Carlos took the second seed in the aforementioned group after it beat the Cebu Institute of Technology-University, 67-42, for a 2-1 (win-loss) mark.
The cast for the semis in the Small Basketeers of the Philippines (SBP) has also been completed with USC going undefeated in five games after it beat SHS-AdC, 59-27.
UV took the second spot with a 4-1 card as it blasted Don Bosco, 39-15. SHS-AdC is seeded third while CEC grabbed the last ticket to the next round with their 49-26 win over the University of San Jose-Recoletos.