CEBU SQUADS University of San Carlos and the University of the Visayas fought bravely to notch victories in their respective categories and reach the finals in the ongoing Visayas regional finals of the Milo-backed Best Twin Tournament in Iloilo City.
In the Small Basketeers of the Philippines (SBP) class, the Baby Warriors took the injury of Jholo Pakanna and used it as motivation to do even better as they cruised to two easy wins during the opening day of action last Saturday. They first took care of St. John’s Institute of Bacolod City, 59-41, before taking down the College of St. John from Roxas City, 44-34.
The win by USC over SJI allowed the Baby Warriors to exact revenge upon the latter for beating them in the Cebu Youth Basketball League VisMin Goodwill Games, 35-54, earlier this year.
In spite playing with just four players in the second canto, the wards of head coach Vernini Tangarorang still managed to hang on to a 26-20 lead and did not relinquish it to the end.
In the Passerelle division, UV had the same predicament as it only had 14 players but paid it no mind in notching two wins to move closer to another title.
UV eked past the University of St. La Salle of Bacolod, 57-53, before routing the Colegio dela Purisima Concepcion of Roxas, 79-42.
Against USLS, the game was tied at 53-all when Gerald Fernandez sank a freethrow for a one-point UV lead with 46 seconds remaining.
UV came up with a huge stop as Dave Cabanilla blocked the shot of Jose Longa leading to another freethrow by Jun Manzo for a 55-53 score with just 11 ticks on the clock.
Cabanilla sealed the win by stealing the inbound pass of USLS and taking it all the way for a layup for the final tally.
The Visayas Regional Finals is the final regional stop of the Best Center SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament, which is sponsored by Milo. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio