RANGED against a Jose Rizal University side that has not played the past two weeks due to health and safety protocols, College of St. Benilde made sure not to fall into complacency yesterday.
Bolstered by a fiery second half charge, the Blazers dumped the Heavy Bombers 92-79 for their ninth win and the solo lead in the 98th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.
Prized big man Will Gozum typified CSB’s resolve, wounding up with a career-high 34 points laced with eight rebounds, while Miggy Corteza provided ample help with 13 markers and five boards.
Migs Oczon had 12 points, 10 caroms, and five assists, while James Pasturan also added 10 and two as the Blazers scored a fitting follow-up to their 85-72 thumping of Mapua University eight days ago and rose to 9-2.
JRU, coming off a 63-57 decision over Lyceum last Oct. 7, slipped to 5-3.
“Finally, three times na kami nagvi-viewing (because of the postponement) sa JRU. It’s tough. We’re happy because this is a Final Four team and they’re solid, they’re very good. Maybe we caught a break. I think they had a long layoff,” CSB coach Charles Tiu said. “They came from COVID, they’re missing some key guys so we’re happy we escaped with this win but yeah it was a big game for us.
“To be honest, they beat us last season for their only win. It’s still in the back of our heads but now they’re a different team, much better,” he added.
In the other game, Arellano University thumped Lyceum 77-63 for its fifth win.
Fil-Aussie big man Cade Flores notched a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds, on top of two assists and seven steals for the Chiefs, while Axel Doromal had 18 markers, five caroms, and five feeds.
Jade Talampas and Shane Menina also combined for 17 points as Arellano halted a three-game losing skid, including a 53-65 setback to reigning two-time champion Letran last Friday and improved to 5-6.
The Pirates failed to score an encore to their 79-73 win over Emilio Aguinaldo College eight days ago and dropped to 8-4.
The Blazers took a 45-43 cushion at the halfway mark and padded the deficit to 67-58 heading into the final canto.
A Gozum basket gave CSB its biggest lead 82-68 with 5:15 remaining in the fourth.
Ry Dela Rosa scored 26 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Bombers, while John Amores and Joshua Guiab got 19 and 12 markers, respectively.
“Maganda naman iyong aming naging adjustment and tsaka correction. In the last three days, puro corrections kasi nga ‘di ba against the same team, Lyceum, we’re leading (but) collapsed,” Chiefs strategist Cholo Martin said.
“We’re leading sa Letran collapse na naman so kinorrect namin so salamat dumepensa sila.”
