Highlands/UC survives Landmasters/USC in Partner's Cup

CEBU, Philippines - The Highlands Corned Beef-University of Cebu Webmasters survived a dogfight against the Cebu Landmasters/University of San Carlos Warriors to eke out a 77-74 win in the 8th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) Partner's Cup last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

In his finest showing ever in UC uniform, Gileant Delatar exploded for a game-high 27 points, while Filvenson Culango added 14 markers for the Webmasters, who jumped to second place in the standings with a 2-1 win-loss slate.

The Warriors actually took an early 19-15 lead but the Webmasters fought back with savvy to force a nip and tuck battle that resulted to a 33-all deadlock at halftime and another 54-54 standoff going into the fourth period.

Inspired by the explosive performance of Delatar and Culango, the Webmasters fought steadier down the final stretch to scrape through a three-point victory over the defending CESAFI champions.

Coming off a 59-58 cliffhanger over My Led Opto/Cebu Institute of Technology-University Wildcats, the Warriors couldn't  sustain their momentum on the way to drop their second game in three starts.— EBV (FREEMAN)