COLLEGE of St. Benilde dug deep into its bag of tricks and kept alive its dream of reaching the Promised Land yesterday.
Bolstered by a big second half attack, the Blazers beat the Knights 76-71 in Game 2 of their best-of-3 finals duel for the 98th NCAA basketball tournament crown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Doubtful due to a sprained ankle he suffered in the first game, guard Migs Oczon showed up and boomed in a clutch turnaround jumper that gave CSB a 75-71 cushion with 20.2 seconds to go.
After Letran forward Neil Guarino missed on a three-pointer, Jimboy Pasturan sank a free throw with only 5.4 ticks left that pegged the final count and sealed the Blazers’ gutsy triumph.
Prized big man Will Gozum, named the season MVP before the match, wound up with 21 points and 10 rebounds for CSB, while Miggy Corteza also had a double-double of 21 markers and 10 boards.
Oczon finished with 15 points on four triples, while Robi Nayve added 10 markers, two caroms, and four dimes for the Blazers, who atoned for a 75-81 loss in the finals opener eight days ago.
The deciding Game 3 is set this Sunday, Dec. 18, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
CSB coach Charles Tiu said his charges heeded his challenge to believe and show they are not pushovers.
“We talk about it all week that we still have to believe. . . We just try to believe really that we can compete with this team,” Tiu said.
“We talked about having to match their physicality so that we can’t let them bully us out there and I am happy that we responded for the most part in this game,” he added.
The Knights took a 45-31 spread on a Kurt Reyson basket with 46.5 remaining in the second canto before settling for a 45-34 edge at the halfway mark.
But the Blazers outscored Letran 30-14 in the third, with Cortez pouring 11 points in that assault to grab a 64-59 advantage heading into the payoff period.
Gozum broke the tiff’s last deadlock with a driving layup that made it 73-71 with 55.4 to go.
Brent Paraiso paced Letran with 16 points, seven rebounds, and two assists, while Kurt Reyson had 11 and four.
Louie Sangalang also got 11 points for the Knights.
Ace Letran playmaker Fran Yu was also ejected due to a disqualifying foul in the second quarter.
