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The University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars drew first blood in the best-of-three title series of the 1st M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala Summer Basketball Tournament after hacking out a fight-marred 84-77 win over the Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras last Friday at the Cebu Coliseum.
A near free-for-all scuffle in the final 2:20 of the third quarter erupted following a physical battle between USJR's Abulaiz Suliman and SWU's Alfred Belande.
SWU's Joseph Escober and Eliud Poligrates joined the fray, while USJ-R’s Randy Pogoy and Manny Gabas also stormed inside the court.
Game officials prevented the incident from escalating after separating the players involved.
That ugly incident, which resulted to the ejection of the aforementioned players, took place with the Jaguars leading comfortably, 60-46.
The incident somehow sparked the Cobras as they rallied within four points, 75-79, going into the final one-minute of the contest.
USJ-R, however, ended the game with a 5-2 blast to escape with the crucial win.
Lyndon Gudez topped the Jaguars with 18 points while Clifford Maguate and Cris Litorja led the Cobras with 20 and 15 markers, respectively.
The University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors, meanwhile, bagged the third place crown with a close 81-78 win over the Asian College of Technology (Act) Cyber Knights.
Sam Jordan Hermosa led the Warriors with 10 points, while Joel Vistal scored 16 to spearhead the Cyber Knights. CORRESPONDENT CALVIN D. CORDOVA
