By ADRIAN STEWART CO
College of St. Benilde Blazers (CSB) leaned on the exploits of Negrense Miggy Corteza as they scored an 84-78 victory over Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) Pirates in the 2023 FilOil EcoOil Preseason tournament at the San Juan Arena on Monday, June 5.
The Negros Occidental’s Silay City-native Corteza top-scored with 23 points as the Blazers punched a ticket to the quarterfinals round after recording their sixth victory against three losses.
Corteza delivered the knockout blow for the Blazers as his open layup in the final 1:43 extended their lead to six before the rest of Benilde followed suit and played solid defense down the stretch.
“Miggy really gave us a lift, but it’s typical of us and it really showed our lack of maturity, which is obvious that we need to work on before the NCAA tournament,” Blazers head coach Charles Tiu said.
Paul Turco missed out on a double-double with 11 points and nine boards, and Michael Mara got 10 markers and nine boards for the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball runner-up Blazers.
Enoch Valdez top-scored for the Pirates with 14 points, five rebounds and two assists as LPU, even with the same 6-3 slate as the Blazers, awaited its fate in the playoffs due to a lesser quotient.
Meanwhile, UAAP Season 85 men’s champion Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles finally earned its first victory in the tournament with a resounding 77-52 rout of Centro Escolar University Scorpions.
Ilonggo guard Ian Espinosa maximized the minutes given to him and corralled 12 points from four treys as the Blue Eagles went 12-of-34 from distance to claim their first win in six games.
Sean Quitevis was also all over the floor with 10 points, nine rebounds and three assists, while Kai Ballungay nabbed 10 in the breakthrough victory for the Katipunan-based dribblers.
“It is an experimental period, a developmental period and we need a lot of it. We’re trying to understand the adjustments and adaptations that we need in our roster and it’s an ongoing process,” Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin said.
CSB 84 — Corteza 23, Turco 11, Mara 10, Carlos 8, Oczon 7, Cajucom 7, Flores 6, Nayve 5, Jarque 5, Sangco 2, Marasigan 0, Arciaga 0, Serrano 0.
LYCEUM 78 — Valdez 14, Montano 12, Barba 10, Omandac 9, Penafiel 8, Umali 7, Guadana 6, Fuentes 5, Cunanan 4, Aviles 3, Villegas 0, Versoza 0, Moralejo 0.
Quarterscores: 22-18, 43-44, 69-64, 84-78./ASC, WDJ