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The University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers moved on to the semifinal round of the juniors division after they disposed of the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers, 85-78, in the quarterfinals of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) basketball tournament yesterday at the University of San Carlos (USC) gym.
Not to be outdone by their bitter rivals, defending champions University of Cebu, the bantams of UV jumped the gun on their opponents and never let go of the lead, which they held from the opening tip until the final buzzer.
The Baby Lancers leaned on the offensive potency of wingman Gerald Legarde, who scored 32 points to lead his squad to the next round, joining UC, which advanced last Tuesday.
The Baby Lancers will be waiting for the winner of the quarterfinal match-up between the third-seeded Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) Wildkittens and the sixth-seeded University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors.
With Legarde and Mark Linao combining for 14 markers, UV zoomed off to a 22-13 lead and held on that advantage for a 40-32 halftime score.
Legarde took center stage in the third period, where he scored 14 points on a variety of jumpshots and drives to the basket. The gritty Baby Panthers stayed within reach as they were down by just eight, 53-61, heading into the last period.
USPF could not get over the hump in the fourth as Joshua Corciles and Rommel Diapera were held scoreless.
The latter was silenced and held down to just 10 points after averaging 43 points in their last two games including a tournament-high of 55-point performance.
Corciles and Jameson Salazar led the losing team with 17 each. Linao added 13 points for UV while Glennson Ybanez contributed 11 points.
