Southern ‘Sweet 16’ cagefest under way

SWEET 16 action fires off with the University of Visayas as the top pick in the Southern Islands division of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) today at Cebu City Coliseum.

The UV Green Lancers, the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) champions this season, lead six teams from the Visayas and Mindanao battling in the stepladder contest where the last school standing will represent the southern region in the round-robin Final Four of the PCCL.

UAAP champion La Salle and four-time NCAA king San Beda have already earned outright semifinal berths in the nationwide collegiate league.

Northern Mindanao titlist STI-Cagayan de Oro and top Southern Mindanao bet Holy Trinity College of General Santos City clash in the first game with the winner advancing against the Green Lancers the next day.

Iloilo Doctors College and University of San Carlos collide in the other knockout match for the right to face Cesafi runner-up Southwestern University.

ABS-CBN will air the Cebu games starting tomorrow at 2 p.m.

In the Luzon-Metro Manila division of Sweet 16, the early qualifiers are UAAP runner-up University of Santo Tomas and semifinalists Far Eastern U and National U; NCAA squads Letran, Perpetual Help and San Sebastian; North-Central Luzon winner Lyceum of Subic Bay; and South Luzon-Bicol champion University of Batangas. Jasmine W. Payo