Cobras find UV’s weakness to take 1-0 lead in seniors finals; Escosio named MVP and ROY

Game Wednesday:

Cebu Coliseum

6 p.m. – SHS-AdC vs. UV (Jrs.)

The Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras finally figured out how to beat the University of the Visayas Green Lancers as they took Game 1 of the best-of-five finals with a, 77-72 victory yesterday in the 12th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. men’s basketball tournament last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

After two failed tries, SWU was finally able to find UV’s weak spot and exploited it to the hilt as the Cobras utilized their speed and accurate outside sniping to break the game wide open at the start of the fourth canto.

Then, with UV breathing down their necks in a frantic comeback attempt, the Cobras turned to their Cameroonian import Justin Aboude to put out the fire and draw first blood in this colorful rivalry that spans over 40 years.

Meanwhile, the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles will try to take one more step closer towards the title that has eluded them for the last three years as they face the reigning champions University of the Visayas Baby Lancers in Game 2 of their own finals showdown today in the juniors division at the same venue.

It took the gallant efforts of Arc Gabrielle Araw-Araw to bail out the Eagles from an impending loss as his crucial makes in crunchtime gave them a heartstopping 80-76 win in Game 1 last Monday.

They will try to achieve the same result today but head coach Rommel Rasmo is not taking any chances with the Baby Lancers, who he saw come back from similar deficits to them in last year’s finals, which the latter won in five games.

“I have to make sure that my players will be physically and mentally ready. We have to be focused for 40 minutes so that we could play our game. As for (Paul) Desiderio, we will do our best to contain him,” said Rasmo in an interview yesterday.

UV’s star wingman and the reigning league MVP Desiderio produced his usual average of 31 points against the Eagles in Game 1.

In the seniors match yesterday, the game was neck-to-neck in the first three periods with SWU holding on to a 55-50 lead. But the Cobras honed in on the basket at the start of the final stanza, which they kicked off with a 12-1 run.

Power forward, Bernie Bregondo made a mid-range jumper and a putback while the returning Bon Guillena hit a pull-up jumper in that stretch. Joseph Nalos and Guillena then swished consecutive three-pointers to give them a 67-51 lead with 6:57 left.

UV’s John Abad fuelled a comeback but SWU kept its composure down the stretch en route to the victory.

“We now have the confidence. We now know that we can beat UV. But the championship is not won with just one game. We need two more,” said SWU coach Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba.

John Abad paced UV with 17 points but nobody else on the team reached double-figures.

Most disappointing of them all was the performance of power forward Wowie Escosio, who before the game was awarded the Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year awards, a first in this league. He finished with just nine points.