Cobras start semifinal stint with huge win over Jaguars; CIT-U shocks UV in juniors tilt

Scratch the University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars from the hitlist of the Southwestern University Cobras.

This after SWU prevailed, 97-86, over USJ-R in the semifinals of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. men’s basketball tournament last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

SWU has not won against any of the other teams in the semifinals in the previous matches in the elimination round.

They aimed to change all of that and started with the Jaguars, which they built a huge lead on in the third period but repeatedly had to stave off several comeback tries by USJ-R before coming away with the win.

In the juniors division, the Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildkittens defeated the reigning champions University of the Visayas Baby Lancers, 79-77, in overtime.

Paul Patindol and Barkley Ebona came up with the telling blows to seal the victory. Patindol scored 24 points, 11 of which came in the fourth canto and overtime.

Paul Desiderio had 35 points to lead UV but tapered off on his scoring rampage in the end due to fatigue.

SWU’s Monbert Arong completed his transformation from erratic and rarely-used guard to full-fledged star as he scored an incredible 38 points, 16 coming in the fourth canto. It was the highest scoring game for any player in the seniors division this season. Arong also had 11 rebounds and three steals.

Cameroonian Justin Aboude also had a monster game with 16 points.