Blazers hold off Cardinals

- Advertisement -

BY ABBY TORALBA

WITH Miggy Corteza showing the way anew, College of St. Benilde turned back Mapua University 65-61 yesterday for its sixth win in the 99th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

Corteza barely missed a double-double with 17 points and nine boards, while reigning MVP Will Gozum had 11 markers as the Blazers rose to 6-4.

- Advertisement -

The Cardinals fell to 8-2, still good for the top spot.

“To be honest, I don’t think it’s the best we’ve played yet. It is our best result. We did beat the No. 1 team but there’s so many things we can improve on,” CSB coach Charles Tiu said.

“We take the win. I am happy with the effort we made because Mapua’s a really tough team,” he added.

The result was a revenge of sorts for the Taft-based crew after it fell short against Mapua 70-71 in the first round last Oct. 4.

Clint Escamis paced the Cardinals with 19 points, while Jopet Soriano and Paolo Hernandez added 14 and 10 markers, respectively.

Earlier, rookie Angelo Gelsano stepped up as Perpetual Help whipped defending three-time champion Letran 73-61.

Cyrus Nitura led the Altas with 17 points and seven boards, while Jielo Razon provided 13 points and three boards.

Art Roque also had 16 and 12, while Gelsano added 10 points and two rebounds for Perpetual, which improved to 4-6.

 

Author

- Advertisement -

Share post: