CESAFI caging UC enters finals

CEBU, Philippines - Six-foot-nine behemoth June Mar Fajardo of the University of Cebu Webmasters toyed with the defense to pile up a total of 37 points and power his team to the finals in the 11th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) basketball tournament.

Games today

(Cebu Coliseum)

5:15 pm -- SHS-AdC vs. CEC (Jrs.)

6:45 pm -- SWU vs. UV (Srs.)

Fajardo made the Cebu Coliseum his playground and helped UC pull a hard-earned 79-70 win against the University of San Carlos Warriors.

Since UC enjoys a twice-to-beat edge, it automatically earned a championship ticket.

The Webmasters will face the winner of the match-up between Southwestern University and nine-time champion University of the Visayas.

SWU holds the twice-to-beat advantage and could earn the last ticket with a win tonight.

After UC’s win, a slight commotion took place when USC coach Mike Reyes complained why the referees seemed to always be anticipating a foul when Fajardo works in the undergoal area.

The comments of Reyes reportedly drew the ire of Commissioner Felix O. Tiukinhoy and an argument ensued.

The proverbial cooler heads eventually prevailed.

USC, which was hoping to avoid an early exit, had that within reach with a rally in the fourth quarter sparked by Cid Cortes, who knocked in three straight perimeter jumpers to put the Warriors within a hairline, 61-62, with 7:20 to go in the contest.

Fajardo woke up from a brief slumber and scored seven straight points to put UC up, 69-61.

Point guard Quinton Brian Heruela then gave his team a ten point cushion, 71-61.

With their survival instincts taking over, the Warriors put up another rally by scoring five straight points including a three-point play by Giovanni Padillo that also earned Heruela his fifth and last foul with 1:28 to go.

Jan Michael Auditor buried a bone-crushing triple to douse all hopes of the Warriors.

Auditor scored 16 points for UC to back Fajardo.

Padillo scored 21 points to lead the Warriors while Cortes added 17 points.

The scores:

UC (Srs.) 79 -- Fajardo 37, Auditor 16, Heruela 8, Bercede 7, Pao 6, Mohammad 4, Caytuna 2

USC (Srs.) 70 -- Padillo 21, Cortes 17, Hermosa 10, Cantonao 5, Magat 5, Bautista 4, Codilla 4, Otida 2, Panerio 2 Halftime: 42-31 (FREEMAN)