COLLEGE of St. Benilde trounced San Sebastian College 91-85 yesterday to bolster its hold on the lead in the 100th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.
Big man Allen Liwag stepped up with 18 points, six rebounds, an assist and a block for the Blazers while Ian Torres and Matthew Oli added 13 and 12 markers, respectively.
Tony Ynot sat out CSB’s opening game of the second round after suffering an ankle injury last week.
With the result, the Blazers rose to 8-2 while the Golden Stags fell to 2-8.
“We wanna give the other guys the chance because iyon nga Tony is not playing and then obviously itong Baste, they like to go in their zone, there’s a lot of change in defense,” CSB coach Charles Tiu said. “I wanted to put up some of shooters in. Give guys a chance. So far, a lot of them were able to deliver.”
Earlier, Christian Pagaran shone as Perpetual Help downed Letran 71-61 to snap a four-game losing skid.
Pagaran finished with 19 points, five rebounds, two assists and a block while rookie Mark Gojo Cruz fired 15 markers, six boards, two dimes and a swat as Perpetual improved to 5-6.
Cedrick Abis and Shawn Orgo also combined for 16 points for the Las Pinas-based crew which handed Letran its third consecutive loss.
Jimboy Estrada barely missed a triple-double of 14 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Knights.
He was tossed out after receiving his second technical foul with less than three minutes to go. That ejection should be costly for Estrada, who was disqualified for any individual awards for his lapse of judgment.
Paeng Are’s 29-point performance along with Lauren Gabat’s 21 markers went for naught for San Sebastian.
