The Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles regained the solo leadership in the standings after they got past the resilient University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors, 78-69, in the juniors division of the 2011 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. basketball tournament yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.
The victory put the Magis Eagles slightly in front of the University of the Visayas (UV) in the standings as they now have a 12-1 (win-loss) record, half-a-game ahead of the latter’s 11-1 card.
Mavii Suarez led the Eagles with 19 markers. Dawn Ochea added 13 while Julius Cadavis finishing with 10.
After a nip-and-tuck battle in the first half, the Magis Eagles started to pull away in the third period and finished the job off by going to the big men in the final canto to net them the win.
USC remained tied with the league leaders at 43-all at halftime behind Ian Ortega, who racked 15 markers in the first half.
Ateneo de Cebu uncorked a 15-4 run late in the third period behind baskets by Patrick Go, Suarez and Dave Yu, that put them in front, 67-54.
Recognizing their enormous advantage in height, the Magis Eagles lorded over the lane in the fourth period as all 11 of their points in that stretch were scored by their centers.
An 8-2 fourth quarter run with inside baskets from Suarez, Dawn Ochea and Julius Cadavis capped off the hard-earned win. Ortega had another stellar effort as he finished with 24 points for USC.