By ADRIAN STEWART CO
The College of St. Benilde (CSB) Blazers survived a furious fourth quarter run by the University of Perpetual Help Altas to escape with an 86-80 win in the NCAA Season 99 men’s basketball at the FilOil EcoOil Arena in San Juan on Tuesday night, October 10.
The Blazers, who led by as much as 20 points at 75-55 midway through the fourth quarter, suddenly saw their lead cut to 78-71 with more than a minute left due to a furious 16-3 scoring blast from the Altas.
Robi Nayve had another strong showing for the Blazers with 20 points. Miguel Oczon added 13 markers, while Ray Carlos and Joshua Cajucom contributed 12 and 11, respectively, as they moved up to 3-3 in the standings.
“I was happy for the first three-plus quarters. I thought they played a bit unselfishly in the third quarter until the fourth quarter. I don’t know what we’re doing,” a visibly-frustrated Tiu said after the match.
“The guys get careless — they think the game is over. We’re doing stupid things. We can’t follow instructions, we’re not going to go anywhere in this tournament if we play that way,” he added.
Art Roque led the way for the Altas with 24 points. Christian Pagaran added 16 markers while Marcus Nitura came close to a triple-double with 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. They dropped to a 1-4 slate.
In the first game, San Sebastian College Golden Stags overcame a slow start to score a 72-59 upset victory over the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers to clinch their second win in five games.
Rafael Are was named Player of the Game with his all-around performance of nine points, six rebounds, five assists, and six steals. Jessie Sumoda led the way with 15 points, while Raymart Escobido and Alex Desoyo each contributed 12 points.
“‘Yung zone defense namin was very effective. ‘Yun lang talaga … walang senior-senior, talagang trumabaho silang lahat,” Stags head coach John Kallos said.
“I give credit to the player at sa coaches. ‘Yung scouting was done by the coaches at ‘yung bench nag-respond,” he added.
Agem Miranda was the lone double-digit scorer for the Heavy Bombers with 15 points and eight rebounds as they saw their three-game winning run snapped to drop to a 4-2 win-loss slate.
CSB 86 — Nayve 20, Oczon 19, Carlos 13, Cajucom 12, Corteza 6, Gozum 6, Turco 4, Sangco 3, Arciaga 2, Marcos 1, Jarque 0, Marasigan 0, Mara 0.
PERPETUAL HELP 80 — Roque 24, Pagaran 16, Nitura 15, Omega 12, Abis 8, Barcuma 2, Ferreras 2, Razon 1, Cuevas 0, Boral 0, Gelsano 0, Nunez 0, Orgo 0.
Quarterscores: 19-18, 39-35, 68-54, 86-80./ASC, WDJ