UV Baby Lancers survive USPF Baby Panthers to advance to championship round

After languishing in obscurity the past two years, the University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers are back in the championship round.

This after the Baby Lancers edged the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers, 57-51, in the semifinals of the juniors division of the 2011 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc.  basketball tournament yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.

The Baby Lancers needed nothing of their twice-to-beat advantage as they broke the game wide open in the third period and held off a last ditch effort by the Baby Panthers to hang on to the win and secure the first slot in the best-of-five finals series.

UV will face the winner of the other semifinals pairing between reigning champions Cebu Eastern College and thet Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu.

Paul Desiderio continued his incredible showing this season as he combined with speedy guard Nelson Peralta to hit some clutch shots down the stretch.

Desiderio scored 15 points while Peralta chipped in 10 which included five straight points that pushed the Baby Lancers to a comfortable margin after their lead was whittled down to two at the midway point of the final period.

A 12-0 run at the onset of the third canto put UV in front, 40-27, with Ron Dennison and Desiderio combining to score the bulk of those points.

The lead remained in twin digits, 46-36, at the end of that stretch with Desiderio and Dexter Lucero scoring a bucket each after a three-point play by USPF’s Rommel Diapera allowed them to climb to within six, 36-42.

USPF remained persistent and embarked on a 9-0 rally with Vandam Mangaron’s putback pegging the score at 45-47. But Peralta doused that fire with his ice-cold shots and Lucero added a nifty left-handed lay-in that sent the Baby Lancers on their way to the win.

Diapera topped USPF with 23 but did not get any help from his teammates as Winston Bolivar was held out from playing because of a disciplinary action.