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The University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars completed the semifinal cast of the seniors division after they sneaked past the gritty Cebu Institute of Technology Wildcats, 78-65 Tuesday night, in their do-or-die quarterfinal match in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum.
In a basketball game that oftentimes resembled a wrestling match, the Jaguars emerged the better squad as they leaned on their solid defense down the stretch to take the fight out of their resilient foes.
Still, the Wildcats made a good account of themselves as they fought tooth-and-nail with the Jaguars, armed with the momentum they gained from their 91-85 overtime victory over USJ-R last Sunday.
However, CIT was hobbled by the absence of star forward Heroche Molero who watched the game from the sidelines after he injured his arm in their last game. Molero had 22 points in that match.
CIT tasted the lead for the last time at 22-20, at the start of the second period, when the Jaguars canned nine straight points highlighted by five straight by Jerome Villaver. USJ-R carried that lead into halftime, 41-34.
CIT's star wingman Chester Curso gallantly tried to lead his squad despite an injured arm by scoring three straight baskets to cut USJ-R?s lead down to four, 51-55, at the start of the fourth. The Jaguars though unloaded a, 9-3 bomb for a, 64-54 cushion which the Wildcats failed to overhaul.
USJ-R's big men Bibera and Kurt Amores combined for 30 points with the former leading the way with 16 markers. Edmar Pateno and Villaver added 12 and 10 points, respectively. Curso paced CIT with 18 points.
The win gave USJ-R the unenviable task of facing eight-time champions University of the Visayas Green Lancers in a best-of-three semifinals, which starts on Tuesday.
Earlier this season, UV dealt USJ-R a 40-point beatdown, 95-55. The other semis pairing will see the top-seeded University of Cebu Webmasters going up against the University of San Carlos Warriors.
