The SBP and Passerelle cagers of the University of San Carlos (USC) took a step closer towards gaining a spots on the big stage as they advanced to the finals of the Visayas regionals after notching their second straight wins in the Milo-backed Best Center Twin Tournament last Saturday at the Iloilo Sports Complex in Iloilo City.
In the Small Basketeers of the Philippines (SBP) division, USC outclassed the Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion (CPC) of Roxas, 40-29, for its second win in as many games.
USC’s Passerelle squad, on the other hand, cruised to an 84-30 win over the St. John of Roxas City to set up a title showdown with the University of St. La Salle (USLS) of Bacolod City. The championship games were still being played as of press time.
Just like in its first game, USC’s SBP team started off slowly but steadily gained steam and took a 21-14 lead at halftime.
The Baby Warriors assumed full control of the lead in the third canto, where their defense held up and allowed CPC to score just two points for a 32-16 lead going to the payoff period.
In other SBP games, Ateneo de Iloilo (AdI) toppled USLS, 43-34, while USLS stopped CPC, 53-20.
USLS need to defeat USC to set a date with the Cebu champions for the SBP title.
In the other division, USLS also kept its perfect record with convincing wins over AdI, 43-34, and CSJR (84-30).
The champions here will qualify for the national finals to be held in San Fernando, Pampanga on Nov. 23 and 24.
La Salle Greenhills punched the first ticket to the national finals by winning the SBP division of the Metro Manila leg, while Chiang Kai Shek topped the Passerelle division.
Next up for the 28th edition of the tournament is the Mindanao regionals finals in Davao on Oct. 26 and 27.