A LOCAL college bet from the Sugbu Nation topped an international basketball event recently.
Newly-crowned Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) champion Southwestern University slipped past local arch rival University of San Carlos, 68-66, to capture the 10th Asian University Basketball Championship (AUBC) title at the Cebu City Sports Institute.
Cameroonian import Landry Sanjo topscored for the SWU Cobras with 18 points and was voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Sanjo was ably supported by JR Parker, who knocked in 17 markers, and 2013 CESAFI MVP Mark Tallo, who chalked up a pair of three-pointers and tallied 12 overall.
SWU led from start to finish and enjoyed its largest lead, 52-31, midway through the third quarter.
The Cobras were ahead, 67-57, with four minutes left but USC scored nine unanswered points, including a three-point play by Victor Rabat with 8.8 seconds left, to come within one, 67-66.
Parker split his free throws with 3.7 ticks left to seal SWU’s second championship in just a week’s time.
Shooster Olago, also a native of Cameroon, led the University of San Carlos with 18 points. Likewise scoring in double figures for the Warriors were Mike Montalbo, 12, and Rabat, 10.
SWU beat USC, 3-2, in this year’s best-of-five CESAFI finals for its second title in three consecutive Finals trips. The Cobras, though, lost to the Warriors, 75-66, during the AUBC eliminations.
Since the start of the 2014 CESAFI wars, SWU and USC have alternated victories with SWU taking the lead and USC subsequently equalizing. Their head-to-head series count so far is 5-4 in favor of the Cobras.
Baer Jang Hyun punched in five triples and scored 19 points – all in the second half – as Korea’s Myongji University rallied for a 73-70 victory over the University of the Visayas to claim third-place honors in the AUBC tournament, which was sanctioned by the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines (FESSAP).
The White Horse, who were beaten by USC, 92-74, during the semifinals, trailed by 10 points, 39-29, at halftime but quickly recovered with the three-point snipings of Baer.
Myongji still trailed, 51-44, when Baer made three straight three-pointers to give his team a 56-53 advantage at the conclusion of the third period.
Following the third deadlock in the nip-and-tuck fourth quarter, Jung Junsoo broke a 67-67 tie with a three-point play with 55.1 seconds left as the Korean school took a 70-67 lead.
Teammate Kim Jisu sealed the win with an unmolested layup, 73-70, with seven ticks remaining to finalize the score.
Jung, the Koreans’ top scorer in the tournament, finished with 18 points despite suffering an injury to his chin.
Jerome Napao and Alfred Codilla each scored 14 points and John Abad had three triples and 13 points for the University of the Visayas.
The Green Lancers, who made CESAFI history a year ago when they beat Southwestern University, 3-2, in the Finals after trailing 0-2 in the series, completed the AUBC elimination phase as the No. 1 seed but dropped an 81-70 decision to the Cobras in the knockout semifinals.