Despite challenges, UC Webmasters upbeat on their chances in CESAFI | The Freeman

CEBU, Philippines —  The University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters look forward to an exciting season ahead in the 23rd Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) men’s basketball tournament despite making a last-minute overhaul in their lineup because of injuries to their key players.

The runner-up in last year’s CESAFI cage wars will kick off their campaign against the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Wildcats on Saturday, September 30, at the Cebu Coliseum.

Already without All-Star guard Paul Galinato, who already completed his five playing years in the league, and small forward Luigi Gabisan, who opted to focus on his studies being a graduating Criminology student this school year, the Webmasters were dealt with further blow as three of their top guns in Michael Diaz, Ariel Dinglasan, and John Quimado suffered varying injuries.

“We’ve made a lot of last-minute adjustments to our final lineup due to a string of unfortunate injuries to some of our old players (Diaz, Quimado and Dinglasan),” Webmasters head coach Kenneth Kernn Sesante shared.

“At the onset, the UC coaches were very glad because we were able maintain the core players after strictly monitoring their respective academic performance. Hence, you can just imagine our dismay when the aforementioned players encountered injuries while preparing for Season 23,” he added.

Still, Sesante remains upbeat on their chances with three “seasoned” rookies in their fold namely Zareygel Rosano, Roosevelt Jeliangao, McSteven Ursal, and John Carl Angelio, their team captain.

Rosano is a former standout of Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma Baby Cobras, while Jeliangao and Ursal are transferees from the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors and University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers, respectively.

“We guarantee that it’s going to be an exciting season ahead. We have a handful of “seasoned” rookies (Rosano, Jeliangao, Angelio and Ursal) joining the team,” said Sesante.

“I call them seasoned rookies because they are only new to the team but they are not definitely new in the local basketball scene. I believe their experience in high level competitions would be a big addition to