Sacayan tows Baby Lancers to 27-point blowout of USPF

CEBU, Philippines — Vaunted sharpshooter Albert Sacayan rifled 36 points while flashy guard Fritz Banzon scored all his 18 points in the final half as the University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers pounded the previously unbeaten University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Baby Panthers, 96-69, in the 19th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) men’s basketball tournament last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

Sacayan’s valiant effort all game long and Banzon’s strong finish catapulted the in-form Baby Lancers to their second straight victory that somehow re-established their billing as a strong title contender that was tarnished for a while after they suffered an embarrassing 46-87 loss to the defending champions University of Cebu (UC) Junior Webmasters last week.

The Baby Panthers were in the thick of the fight only in the early goings when they pulled with just two, 5-7, after the Baby Lancers charted the game’s first seven points.

The Baby Panthers were still in striking range after the first period, 14-19, but the Baby Lancers launched a 27-19 run to carve out a 46-33 advantage at halftime. It was cruise control for the UV bantams from thereon.

The closest the Baby Panthers could muster was at 36-46 as Sacayan, who also hauled four rebounds and picked up four steals, dropped three 3-point bombs in rapid succession to vault the Baby Lancers to a huge 67-47 lead just a few seconds into the final quarter.

Sacayan and Banzon then transformed themselves into a deadly one-two punch at the endgame where they combined for 22 points that keyed UV’s 27-point rout of the Baby Panthers.

Samuel Melicor contributed 14 points and Jay Alilin added 10 markers for the Baby Lancers, who joined their victims at second spot in the juniors division standings with identical 2-1 win-loss records.

Star playmaker Christopher Isabelo topscored for the Baby Panthers with 14 points. Jack Suello and Ramon Singson conspired for 21 points but to no avail as they saw their two-game winning streak come to a sudden red stop. — EBV