UC proves worth, stuns San Sebastian
Thursday, 8 December 2011 38 Comments
THE University of Cebu Webmasters will not be going home without a win under their belt.
With their inside-outside game clicking, the back-to-back champions of the CESAFI and Southern Islands overall winners were able to salvage a victory in the round-robin Final Four of the 2011 Philippine Collegiate Champions League, dispatching a San Sebastian College-Recoletos Stags squad with nothing to play for, 92-71 last December 8 at the Arena in San Juan.
“Ito yung game na…naglaro sila nang focused. Fluid yung execution sa half-court,” said UC head coach Roehl Gomez.
Having dropped games to the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles and the San Beda College Red Lions, the Webmasters were out of the running for a finals spot and thus playing for pride. To that end, some streaky shooting from combo guard Brian Heruela and Edward Pao got UC out to a 17-10 lead, which they were able to extend to 22-17 by the end of the first quarter.
It was in the second period when they began to face opposition from the Stags, the Luzon-Metro Manila regional champs. With the Webmasters continuing to bomb away from downtown, the Stags decided to match them at their own game. Back-to-back triples by AJ Vitug turned a 33-29 deficit into a 35-33 lead, with reserves Kruschev Ferrer and Josh Grilli adding to the barrage to extend the advantage to 41-37. With time winding down, however, a transition bucket by Heruela paved the way for a UC blitz and a 47-45 edge at the break.
The Stags’ effort on both ends left them in the third as successive triples by Heruela towed UC to a 10-point lead, 67-57, with 39 seconds left in the period. All in all, the Stags could only muster 12 points the entire 10 minutes. A 10-2 run at the start of the fourth then doubled UC’s advantage to 20 points, 79-59, as Robinson Mohammad connected from deep territory. In response, Calvin Abueva got to the line on San Sebastian’s next two possessions, splitting the charities both times. When Mohammad found the range for yet another triple, Stags head coach Topex Robinson waved the white flag, taking out his starters with 5:52 left in the game.
Pao stayed on the floor the entire game, as Gomez rode his hot hand, which resulted in 25 points, including an impressive 7-for-12 stint at the three-point line, to go with eight rebounds, three assists, four steals and a block. Mohammad added 20 markers, converting 6-of-14 triples, while Junemar Fajardo also chimed in with 20 markers, plus 12 rebounds and three swats. Gomez also got double-digit performances from Heruela and Bercede,as the team answered his call for more balance on the offensive end. “Pag hindi ka balanced dito sa Maynila, mahihirapan ka,” he added.
Whatever the outcome of the game, the Stags already had the coveted twice-to-beat advantage in the PCCL Finals, courtesy of UC’s loss to San Beda in the previous gameday. As a result, the coaching staff opted not to risk injury by giving more minutes to their bench. Playing just 23 minutes, Abueva amassed 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists, while Ian Sangalang, logging a minute less, posted just nine points and five boards, four on the offensive end. Ferrer and Vitug scored nine each as well.
After attempting 30 triples versus the Red Lions, UC threw up a whopping 41 shots from outside the three-point arc, this time converting on 16 of them for an impressive 39 percent. That figure matched San Sebastian’s total field goal percentage, as the Stags could not close out quickly enough on the Webmaster snipers. “Kasi sa Cebu, honestly lang, yung teams maliliit ang mga players. So mas mabubuhay ka kung may tira ka sa labas,” explained Gomez, whose three-point shot was money in his pro days in the 90s. “Suwerte lang kami kasi may [Junemar] Fajardo, so you can play in and outside, at mas mahirap i-depensa yun.”
The University of Cebu and San Sebastian College will now wait for the results of tomorrow’s game between Ateneo and San Beda. The winner will go on to face the Stags for the PCCL crown, with the NCAA runners-up in possession of the twice-to-beat advantage. The loser will face off against University of Cebu for third place, with those two games kicking off hostilities on Monday, December 12.
In the curtain-opener, the FEU-FERN Baby Tamaraws dispatched a La Salle Greenhills Greenies team that was missing Thomas Torres and AJ Vito, behind UAAP Jrs. Division MVP Jerie Pingoy’s game-high 34 points, plus nine rebounds and seven steals.
The scores:
UC 92 – Pao 25, Mohammad 20, Fajardo 20, Heruela 12, Bercede 12, Auditor 3, Ocariza 0, Batino 0, Ampoon 0
San Sebastian 71 – Abueva 17, Ferrer 9, Sangalang 9, Vitug 9, Grilli 8, del Rio 6, Miranda 4, dela Cruz 4, Balucanag 3, Maiquez 2
Quarter scoring: 22-17, 47-45, 69-57, 92-71
(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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