Cobras dethrone two-time defending champion UC Webmasters, forge finals date with UV

The finals match-up that everybody is dying to see is finally coming true.

This after the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras returned to the championship round after defeating the two-time defending champions University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters, 70-55, in the semifinals of the 12th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.

The win by the Cobras gave them a 2-1 (win-loss) card in the single round-robin semis and it catapulted them to the best-of-five finals series, where bitter rival the University of the Visayas (UV)  await.

SWU made it to the finals last year but fell short in five games against the Junemar Fajardo-led UC.

The Cobras got off to great start and led the rest of the way, thanks in part to the return of Bon Guillena, who has missed all but one game this season because of a groin injury.

He made his first two baskets and scored eight of his 12 points in the first half, which ended with SWU on top, 37-23.

Still, there were tense moments, especially in the third canto, where SWU saw its 16-point lead sliced down to just five, 45-40, after a trey by UC rookie guard Kido Cabrera.

But SWU refused to blink and retaliated with a basket by Cameroonian Ben Mbala, a three by Jestoni Casquejo and a buzzer-beating floater by Monbert Arong that restored a 52-40 lead heading to the final stanza.

SWU’s Joseph Nalos hit a corner three on the first possession in the fourth. On the next trip down, Nalos hit another one from the opposite corner that put them on top, 58-40. UC last threatened at 45-68 but SWU’s other Cameroonian import Justin Aboude shut that rally down with back-to-back three-point plays for a 64-45 lead with 7:35 left.

Nalos scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth canto to lead SWU. Aboude had 12 points and eight rebounds.

Cabrera led UC with 17 while Brian Heruela, was held to just 15.

In the juniors division, the reigning champions UV Baby Lancers lost to the undefeated Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles, 81-96, but still made it to the finals by virtue of their better quotient against the Cebu Institute of Technology-University and Cebu Eastern College.

CEC upset CIT-U, 83-78, to create the three-way tie at 1-2 along with UV. UV ended up with a quotient of 1.08, better than CIT-U’s 0.98 and CEC’s 0.93.

In the other no-bearing seniors semis game, UV downed USJ-R, 69-58, to remain flawless entering its finals showdown with SWU.