By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
College of St. Benilde stayed unflappable at the helm as the Blazers scored an emphatic 80-65 victory over the Jose Rizal University Bombers on Sunday, Oct. 20, in NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Leading 42-33 at the half, the Blazers delivered the knockout blows in the third quarter where they unleashed a telling 18-3 assault to rip the game wide open, 60-35, and never looked back.
It was St. Benilde’s fourth straight victory to hike its win-loss tally to 10-2, not only reaffirming its mastery over JRU after prevailing 84-69 in the first round two weeks ago but also toughening its bid for its first league title in 24 years.
Almost everybody contributed a little of everything for the Blazers with Ian Torres unloading a career-high 16 points built on three triples, and Allen Liwag coming through with another double-double performance of 12 points and 11 rebounds on top of three assists.
“One game at a time lang kami ngayong second round,” said Liwag. “Nung first round kasi maraming nangyari na hindi namin inaasahan kaya ngayon, mas pinaghahandaan talaga namin bawat next game.”
Justine Sanchez also stepped up for St. Benilde with 10 points while Jhomel Ancheta and Jose Eusebio conspired for 18 points and seven rebounds.
The Blazers clung to a single-digit lead in the first half before torching the basket in the last two quarters, outscoring the Bombers, 26-7, in the third period and leading by as many as 33, 73-40, early in the fourth.
JRU briefly showed signs of life by draining eight straight points in a run spearheaded by Joshua Guiab, but the deficit was too much for the Blazers to overcome.
Guiab scored 17 points for the Bombers, who plummeted deeper to the cellar at 3-9 in tie with the San Sebastian Stags.
In the other game, Mapua repulsed San Beda, 58-55, to stay at second with a 10-3 win-loss record.
A triple from Marc Cuenco in the last 2:51 of the game gave the Cardinals the crucial 52-51 lead, igniting a run that steered them to victory.
Chris Hubilla paced Mapua with 17 points, nine rebounds and two assists, while Cuenco scattered seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter including that crucial go-ahead trey, eventually avenging their 76-69 overtime loss to San Beda in the first round last Oct. 8.
San Beda stumbled to its fifth loss against eight wins to remain at solo third despite Bryan Sajonia and Jomel Puno scoring 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, Lyceum disclosed on Sunday that JM Bravo has cleared all his CT scans and neurological assessment after getting knocked unconscious from a head collision from a loose ball scuffle with Arellano’s Renzo Abiera in their match on Saturday, Oct. 19.
The university posted on social media that the 24-year-old wingman is set to be discharged from the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City on Monday, Oct. 21.
“Let’s keep cheering him on as he makes his return to the game!” the post read.
It was not yet clear, though, when exactly Bravo will return.
Lyceum’s next game is on Wednesday, Oct. 23, against St. Benilde.
The scores
First Game
ST. BENILDE 80 – Torres 16, Liwag 12, Sanchez 10, Ancheta 9, Eusebio 9, Oli 6, Cajucom 5, Cometa 4, Ondoa 4, Serrano 2, Turco 2, Morales 1, Sangco 0, Jarque 0, Galas 0.
JRU 65 – Guiab 17, Argente 14, Raymundo 13, Pangilinan 8, De Leon 4, Bernardo 4, Mosqueda 3, Lozan 2, Samontanes 0, Panapanaan 0, Sarmiento 0, Ferrer 0.
Quarters: 21-16; 42-33; 68-40; 80-65.
Second Game
MAPÚA 58 – Hubilla 17, Cuenco 11, Escamis 7, Abdulla 5, Recto 4, Mangubat 4, Jabonete 4, Concepcion 3, Igliane 3, Bancale 0, Fermin 0.
SAN BEDA 55 – Sajonia 12, Puno 11, Andrada 9, Estacio 6, Songcuya 6, Lina 6, Payosing 3, Tagle 2, Royo 0, Calimag 0, Bonzalida 0.
Quarters: 16-12; 32-23; 46-40; 58-55.
