FORMER national champions Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) and the University of the Visayas (UV) remained unscathed as they beat their respective opponents in the Cebu leg of the 2013 SeaOil National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) last Sunday at the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) gym in Basak.
The two squads won in contrasting fashion as the Baby Lancers annihilated the Abellana National School (ANS) , 108-50, while the Magis Eagles had to lean on some clutch plays on both ends of the floor by forward Jan Jaboneta to hack out a 72-69 win over fellow contender University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors.
UV and SHS-AdC now share the top spot in the standings with similar 2-0 (win-loss) records.
USC had the inside track on the victory as they led, 68-65, with two minutes remaining in what was a closely-fought match.
However, SHS-AdC was not yet done as Jaboneta managed to grab an offensive rebound and put it back in while getting fouled. He made the freethrow to complete a three-point play that tied the game at 68-all.
On USC’s next offensive, SHS-AdC employed a full-court press, which rattled the Baby Warriors, leading to a steal and a basket by Jaboneta for a 70-68 lead.
The Magis Eagles’ defense then held up in the waning seconds to seal the win.
In the day’s other game, Don Bosco eked past the hosts USJ-R, 69-64. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio