Elmer Espiritu of the University of the East (right) slips past June Fajardo of University of Cebu in Saturday’s action in the 2009 Smart-PLDT Sweet 16 Champions League at The Arena in San Juan City. (Photo by BOB DUNGO JR.)

University of the East threw the full weight of its talented crew against University of Cebu on Saturday and the Warriors hammered out a 105-86 rout to advance to quarterfinals in the Sweet 16 of the Philippine Champions League at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Warriors, runner-up to UAAP champion Ateneo, came through with a well-balanced offensive to oust the Cebuanos and join Far Eastern University, Letran, Ateneo and San Beda in the next round.

Hardly feeling the absence of regulars Rudy Lingganay, Toto Bandayen, and Lucas Tagarda, the Warriors dictated the tempo of the game right from the start  towin pulling away.

Lingganay and Bandayen are currently playing for the Kuala Lumpur Dragons in the ASEAN Basketball League. Tagarda is recuperating from ACL injury he suffered in the recent UAAP tournament.

Spitfire Paul Lee anchored the Warriors with a triple-double performance of 31 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, He also had three steals in 40 minutes of action.

Pari Llagas added 17 points and seven rebounds, Elmer Espiritu had 14 markers and Paul Zamar contributed 10 points for UE, which finished with a 30 of 51 clip from the field, collared 50 rebounds and issued 29 assists.

Llagas also defended well against June Fajardo limiting the 6-9 behemoth to only three points in the third period. Fajardo finished with 24 points.

UE posted its biggest lead of 23 points at 81-58, on Avila’s charities off Barnett Rogado.

The scores:
UE 105 - Lee 31, Llagas 17, Espiritu 14, Zamar 10, Acuña 9, Reyes 6, Flores 5, Acibar 4, Ayala 3, Sumido 2, Noble 2, Duran 2.
UC 86 - Rogado 25, Fajardo 24, Julianne 13, Quilangtang 6, Tano 5, Abella 4, Luceno 4, Gomez 3, Cayanong 2, Mohammad 0, Bernil 0.
Quarters: 28-23, 53-43, 83-61, 105-86.