INQUIRER Sports

THE San Marino Corned Tuna-University of San Carlos drew first blood in the best-of-three semifinals of the seniors division of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) Partner's Cup after rallying from 10 points down in the fourth period to beat the PTT Fuels-University of the Visayas Green Lancers, 105-94, yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.

With 7-foot center Greg Slaughter no longer donning the Lancers? green jersey and reserve big man Edrian Lao sitting out with an ailment, the Green Lancers fell prey to the Warriors who torched the hoop with 31 points in the final period to overhaul a, 74-84 deficit at the start of the quarter.

The game was played on even terms for most of the first half, which ended with PTT Fuels leading by two, 58-56. The Green Lancers though, pulled away with a, 15-4 run that put them ahead, 73-60. However, San Marino kept within striking distance, thanks to the superb efforts of wingman Mike Cantonao, who drained 12 of his 24 points there to keep his team afloat.

USC then erased UV's lead in the fourth as they went amok with a 21-2 run with Giovanni Padillo, Sam Hermosa, Jabby Bautista, Luigi Bercede and Joven Cortes scoring baskets in that searing run.

Cortes and Hermosa backed Cantonao with 17 points each while Padillo added 14 markers. Phil Mercader led UV with 26 points.

BABY LANCERS MAKE FINALS

Meanwhile, UV's younger counterparts, the Baby Lancers made up for their senior team's mishap as they barged into the finals of the juniors division with a, 94-85 win over the Bibbo Hotdog-Cebu Institute of Technology Wildkittens in Game 2, sweeping their best-of-three series, 2-0.

With CIT star Mark Jayven Tallo out with an injury, the reigning Cesafi champions just did not have the juice to compete with the Baby Lancers as UV led from start to finish. Francisco Arong paced the winners with 19 points.

The Ave Maria Sanctuary and Park-University of San Jose-Recoletos Baby Jaguars on the other hand, kept their season alive by beating top-seeded Enervon C-University of Cebu Baby Webmasters, 86-83, and forcing a winner-take-all Game 3.

USJ-R survived the fouling out of star forward Clint Munez, as they got crucial makes from Vengie Trozo, Edu Autentico and Patrick Go.

Munez scored nine in the fourth period that put his team in front, 77-70, before collecting his fifth foul. Without Munez, UC quickly cut the lead down to one, 78-79, before USJ-R?s shock troopers outscored their rivals, 7-5 for the win.