CEBU CITY, Philippines — The University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers escaped with a nail-biting 70-69 win over the University of San Jose–Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguar Cubs in the weekend Cesafi Season 25 high school basketball tournament.
The hard-earned victory, which featured 13 lead changes and seven ties, kept the Baby Panthers’ Final Four hopes alive as they improved to 5-3 following the match at the Cebu Coliseum on Saturday, Nov. 22.
The Jaguar Cubs, meanwhile, slipped to 3-5 as their postseason chances continued to fade.
Luke Brent Dy delivered a huge performance, finishing with a game-high 25 points and 18 rebounds, including the game-winning basket.
He shot an efficient 8-of-12 from the field in 29 minutes. He also tallied three steals.
Champ Davidson Brigoli backed him up with 11 points, three rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
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For USJ-R, AJ Prudenciado led the scoring with 14 points, while Japhet Sedrome and John Caresosa added 13 each as the team played without five key players.
USPF opened strong, taking a 26-20 lead after the first quarter.
But the Jaguar Cubs clawed back and closed the half on top, 41-40, after erasing USPF’s earlier eight-point cushion, 43-31.
USJ-R carried that momentum into the second half and built their biggest lead at 57-45. They entered the fourth quarter still ahead, 59-51.
The tide, however, turned quickly in the final frame. USPF put together an 11-2 run, highlighted by Brigoli’s back-to-back triples that pushed them ahead, 62-61.
USJ-R answered with Prudenciado’s basket for a 63-62 edge, only for Brigoli to hit another three that swung the lead back to USPF, 65-63, with 4:21 left.
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Sedrome tied the game at 65-all with 2:59 remaining, and Clye Antig put USJ-R back in front with two free throws for a 67-65 lead.
Dy trimmed the deficit with a split at the line, 66-67, before Brigoli buried another clutch triple to give USPF a 68-67 advantage.
Prudenciado replied with a basket at the 1:09 mark for a 69-68 USJ-R lead. From there, USPF went cold, missing six straight attempts as the Jaguar Cubs tightened their defense.
But with the game — and their Final Four bid chances on the line, Dy came through. He hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer to lift the Baby Panthers to a dramatic victory.
UCLM outplays UV
In the other game, the University of Cebu Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue (UCLM) Webmasters routed the University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers, 78-65.
The Webmasters improved to 6-2, while UV dropped to 2-4.
Yancy Montealto powered UCLM with 26 points, 13 rebounds, a block, a steal, and an assist.
Rafael Calo added 21 points in the win.
AJ Ejurango led UV with a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double, while Adrian Padilla and Rhadz Silawan chipped in 10 points each.
UCLM led by as many as 19 points, 78-59, before closing out the Baby Lancers in the final quarter.
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