A series that was touted to be a fierce dogfight is turning out to be no more than a one-sided rout.
This after the defending champions Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras neared its second straight title with a 71-60 victory over the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers in Game Two of the best-of-five championship series of the 13th Cesafi men’s basketball tournament last night at the jampacked Cebu Coliseum.
This match-up was touted to be an all-out war between the two age-old rivals. But the Cobras have clearly found their comfort zone and showed it, winning their fifth straight over the Lancers and their 14th overall this season.
In Game Two, they shifted the momentum in their favor with a blistering 15-0 run late in the third canto that turned a precarious 43-41 lead into a huge 58-41 cushion.
In contrast, the Lancers picked the most inopportune of times to tinker with their lineup as head coach Felix Belano opted to go small for most of the game, and relegated his most productive big men, Wowie Escosio, Rhaffy Octobre and Chris Perolino, to the bench.
They were made to pay dearly for this by SWU’s African import Landry Sanjo, who lorded over the shaded lane to the tune of 20 points and 20 rebounds along with two assists and a steal.
The Cobras’ backcourt of Mark Jayven Tallo and Monbert Arong, who were stymied in Game One, came to life with the latter scoring 16 points and the latter scattering 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Afterwards, a jubilant Yayoy Alcoseba, head coach of SWU, admitted he was happy his squad learned their lessons from Game One, particularly Tallo, who played mostly in control.
“We all saw the tape and we learned from that,” said Alcoseba. “I’m glad that he’s (Tallo) growing up right here in the finals.”
Point guard John Abad made up for his four-point outing in Game One by scoring 16 yesterday. However, he sorely lacked help as nobody else reached double-figures for the Lancers.