INQUIRER Sports

THE University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars booked a ticket to the “Sweet 16” of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League, after outlasting fellow Cesafi squad, University of Cebu, 95-87, in the semifinals of the Zone 4 Championships at the Ormoc Superdome in Ormoc City.

Pitted against one another following the Webmasters' loss to Letran the other night, USJ-R and UC rekindled their fierce Cesafi rivalry for an all-important ticket to the PCCL quarterfinals in Manila later this month at stake.

The Webmasters took the early lead with three-point bombs from Jansen Abella and prized rookies Robinson Mohamad, Kim Gomez, Kevin Quilantang and Edward Pao to lead 25-15 after the first period and 52-45 at halftime. The Webmasters drained nine treys in the first half.

The Jaguars though, clawed their way back by attacking UC's 6-foot-9 man-mountain June Mar Fajardo, causing the latter to get into foul trouble and eventually foul out at the 6:20 mark of the final stanza. With Fajardo out, the Jaguars pounded it down low to Jan Malinao, Jerome Villaver and Jabe Delfino, who combined for 46 points.

USJ-R then bucked the loss of Malinao, who was sent to the hospital following a head gash caused by an accidental collision with Delfino, and Kurt Amores, who got sidelined because of an ankle injury, by leaning on their Mythical Five backcourt of guards Luther Justiniani and Armand Ponce, with the former sealing the game with crucial free-throws down the stretch.

In the Zone 4 finals, the Jaguars will meet the Letran Knights, the NCAA powerhouse, who scored a, 70-58 demolition of the West Negros College Mustangs. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio