3RD CESAFI Partners' Cup Basketball: Top seeds gun for semis berths today

CEBU, Philippines – Three more semifinal seats are up for grabs today with three seeded teams bannered by no. 1 qualifier Hotel Fortuna/SWU Cobras going up against the lower-ranked squads in the resumption of the 3rd CESAFI Partners’ Cup Cebu Coliseum.

Games today

(Cebu Coliseum)

4 pm Hotel Fortuna/SWU vs. Virginia/CIT

5:30 pm Enervon/UC vs. R. Lapid’s/DBTC

7pm Prime Asia/UV vs. CDO Idol/USPF

Armed with a twice-to-beat incentive, the Hotel Fortuna-SWU Cobras will go up against No. 8 seed Virginia/CIT Wildcats in the first game at 4 pm .

The second-ranked Enervon/UC Webmasters will try to repeat their mastery over the R. Lapid’s/DBTC Greywolves, while the third-seed Prime Asia/UV Lancers hope to do the same against the CDO Idol/USPF Panthers in the main game at 7 pm.

The Ave Maria/USJ-R Jaguars grabbed the first semifinals slot last Saturday after scoring an 84-74 victory over the Aerosol/USC Warriors in Cordova. 

 The Cobras are no doubt the team to beat in this tournament because of their superior manpower. All the catalysts of making a champion are being poured into their fold.

Except for the presence of 6-foot-11 Gregory Slaughter of UV and 6-foot-9 June Mar Fajardo for UC, the Cobras are the tallest squad in terms of ceiling because they have plenty of big men in rotation who are all offensive threats.

Among the Cobras big men are Melvin Divinagracia, Rene Pacquiao, Richard Gianchad, Clifford Maguate, Ritchie Jalandoni, Eric Zanoria and Gilbert Gallarde.

The Cobras also have an edge in the backcourt because their pointguards Aard Diango and Eliud Poligrates are more solid compared to the other playmakers.

The Webmasters, on ther other hand, are expected to capitalize on their scoring ability from the three-point zone. They will also exploit their speed to be effective in transition offense.

The Greywolves, for their part, hope that their perimeter shots will fall in the right place.

In the nightcap, the Lancers will count on the tandem of Ritchum Dennison and Harold Cincoflores at the backcourt and Slaughter and Edrian Lao at the shaded lane.

For the Panthers, they will squeeze the most from veterans Elvis Labares, Randy Colonia and Michael Sereño to name a few. –THE FREEMAN