Magis Eagles in seventh heaven

CEBU, Philippines – The Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles showed they mean serious business in their quest for back-to-back titles.

Ranged against a team tipped as their closest contender for the championship, the Magis Eagles were a dominant force in a 73-48 masterclass of the University of San Carlos Baby Warriors that firmed up their grip of the solo lead in the juniors division of the 15th Cebu Schools Atheltic Foundation, Inc. men's basketball tournament yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.

Jed Colonia topscored with 21 points, including 11 straight in a blistering four-quarter rally that literally pulverized the Baby Warriors into smithereens. Andrew Velasco added 16 points, while Errol Pastor and Patrick Wilson Yu darted 12 and 11 markers, respectively, as the Magis Eagles eased through their seventh straight win in as many starts.

Heady pointman Travis Mantua scored only two but passed out seven assists in an excellent quarterbacking for the Magis Eagles, who were in complete control after racing to a 7-0 start. The closest the Baby Warriors could come was at 10-14 as Colonia and Yu bombarded three  straight triples in a 15-3 blitz that gave the Magis Eagles a huge 29-13 lead with 2:21 left in the second period.

Call it mere coincidence but every time the Baby Warriors trim the deficit down to a single digit, the Magis Eagles always respond with a 3-point bomb. After the Baby Warriors pulled within 32-41, Renzo Calumpang and Yu drilled in back-to-back treys sandwiching Pastor's beautiful layup to regain a 49-33 advantage with only 47 seconds remaining in the third frame.

The last time USC was in the thick of the fight was at 40-49 as after Calumpang buried another crisp 3-pointer, Colonia, who also had six steals and four rebounds, unloaded 11 straight points that broke the backs of the Baby Warriors. The Magis Eagles were not yet done from  there as Velasco starred in a six-point swing to complete a spectacular 22-4 run that handed them their biggest lead at 27 points, 71-44, at  the final 2:21 mark.

Alje Mendez could have ended USC's four-minute scoring drought but he fired two airballs from the stripe in an obvious sign of  desperation. Over, the Bay Warriors show a paltry 13-of-30 from the foul line.

Mendez was the lone double digit score with 13 points for the Baby Warriors, who stumbled to their second straight loss after a  rousing 4-0 start.

Earlier, Jankork Cabahug dished out career-highs 41 points and 22 points to power the University of the Visayas Baby Lancers (4-3) to a 79-74 beating of the Cebu Eastern College Dragons (1-6), while Marion Abinuman had 19 points to power the Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildkittens (3-4) to a 61-42 rout of the Don Bosco Greywolves, who slumped to their eight consecutive loss. (FREEMAN)