UCLM expels star guard for playing in non-Cesafi league

Sports

By MyTVCebu Desk

GUARD Noel Lingoste has been a solid contributor for the University of Cebu-Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue (UCLM) Baby Webmasters in the ongoing secondary basketball tournament of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi).

But UCLM fans will no longer see him in a Baby Webmasters jersey.

UCLM has decided to expel Lingoste for allegedly violating team regulations by playing in a tournament in Iloilo while the Cesafi Season 25 is ongoing.

The development was reported by Focus, the official student publication of UCLM.

UCLM coach Calib Gawangon said Lingoste was warned not to play for a team that was one of the participants in the Gov. Toto Defensor Cup in Maasin, Iloilo.

It turned out Lingoste defied the warning and went on to suit up Tigbauan Team on Nov. 2.

Under Cesafi rules, players are prohibited from playing in other tournaments while the season is ongoing. Before the Cesafi could take action, UCLM moved to drop the hammer on Lingoste.

“We must uphold the integrity of our program and the rules that govern it,” Gawangon said in the report.

UCLM is one of the league’s frontrunners in the current Cesafi season and Lingoste played a major role in the promising run.

UCLM holds a 5-2 (win-loss) record, good for second place along with Cebu Institute of Technology-University and defending champion Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu. The three teams are within striking distance with league-leader Cebu Eastern College, which is 6-2.

Lingoste played the second-most minutes for UCLM with an average of 25.6 minutes of playing time. He is averaging 9.9 points a game–the third-best in the team. He led UCLM in assists with 4.9 feeds per outing and was also active on defense with a team-best 2.1 steals per game.

Lingoste was also efficient on the floor, averaging a second-best 3.9 field goals made from his average of 9.4 field goals attempts.(CCM)