After 5 heartbreaking setbacks to start the season, the College of St. Benilde Blazers are slowly inching its way up the standings.
Leaning on a strong fourth quarter assault, the College of Saint Benilde Blazers rolled past the Mapua Cardinals, 84-64 in their first round meeting in Season 89 of the NCAA at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The Blazers rode on the explosion of Paolo Taha who erupted for 24 points and eleven rebounds. It was CSB’s third straight win after a 0-5 start. Another bright spot for Coach Gabby Velasco is Zamboanga native Dexter Garcia, who finished eith 18 points, five rebounds and three assists across his name.
CSB started the game with an 11-2 run. Mapua retaliated with their own 12-0 run that put them in the driver’s seat, 14-11 late in the first period. Collective efforts from Mark Romero and Taha led to CSB’s 12-point lead at the half.
The Blazers led by as much as seventeen points inthe third period, 46-29 on a basket from Taha at the 8:26 mark. Behind Carlos Isit’s eleven-point outburst in the third, the Cardinals were only trailing by seven at the end of three quarters of action.
Mapua pulled to their closest at three, 57-60 at the 8:26 mark of the payoff period. St. Benilde unleashed a 15-2 run for a comfortable cushion 75-59 lead in the last three minutes of the game.
St. Benilde’s widest gap stood at 20, 84-64.
“First of all, we had a good practice yesterday. I told them we should have a high level of energy and intensity for us to beat this team. This is a rebounding team and I’m glad we came out strong on the rebounding end especially with Garcia and Taha. The energy of the boys was really all over the court, that helped us through today.” Said Coach Gabby Velasco.
Mapua still missed the services of JC Cantos who is still recovering from a left ankle sprain. The Cardinals failed to explosive numbers from Kenneth Ighalo and Joseph Eriobu who only managed to combined for 14 points.
CSB dominated the boards, 45-35. Mapua also tallied 21 errors in today’s match against CSB’s 12.
“Hopefully with the wins, we can improve our standings here in the first round. It’s our first time to score over 80 points. We’re slowly learning from out close game situations especially in the end game.” Added Velasco.
“I guess the energy level that we had affected the turnovers of Mapua. You can really see the energy of the boys was all over the court. I reminded them that when we won the last time, we had a good rebounding game for us. Today, i challenged them to try to win in the rebounding department again.”
Isit and Andrew Estrella finished the game with 15 and 10 respectively for Mapua. The Cardinals are on a six-game losing skid, dropping further down the cellar with a 1-7 record. The Blazers now tote a 3-5 mark.
Box Scores
CSB (84) — Taha 24, Garcia 18, Romero 16, Ongteco 6, Saavedra 5, Sinco 5, Bartolo 4, Argamino 3, Grey 3, Deles 0.
MIT (64) — Isit 15, Estrella 10, Eriobu 9, Brana 9, Magsigay 6, Ighalo 5, Biteng 4, Saitanan 4, Gonzalez 2. Quarters: 16-16, 40-28, 59-52, 84-64.
Greenies’ winning run snapped by Red Robins
LSGH two-game winning streak was snapped yesterday by the Malayan Red Robins 83-65. The Greenies fall to 5-3, tied for third with Malayan and JRU.
Box Scores
MIT (83) — Pascua 23, Lugo 18, Serrano 15, Concepcion 11, Victoria 6, Aguirre 6, Villasenor 4, Calderon 0, Mumar 0, Magpayo 0, Russel 0.
LSGH (65) — Paras 21, Rivero 17, Barrera 11, San Juan 6, RP Rivero 5, Dela Cruz 3, Abadeza 2, Salonga 0, Alcala 0, Ramilo 0, Gob 0, Lanot 0.
Quarters: 10-15, 34-31, 64-39, 83-65.
Lady Archers still unable to stop Lady Tams’ winning run
Two-time defending champion Far Eastern University once again got the better of De La Salle University, beating them, 67-62 to remain unbeaten in eight games as the second round of eliminations in the UAAP Season 76 Women’s basketball tournament began on Wednesday, August 14, 2013 at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. It was a more competitive matchup this time around as compared to the Lady Tamaraws dominating 79-40 win over the Lady Archers in the first round. Camille Sambile finished with a double-double performance of 27 points and 15 rebounds. DLSU’s Ara Abaca also put up a double-double of her won with 20 points and 10 rebounds in a losing effort. FEU improved to 8-0 this season and is now on a 26-game win streak in the UAAP. Their last defeat happened in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 74 (2011) Finals against Adamson University, where the Lady Tamaraws lost 60-56. The Lady Archers, finalists in last year’s tournament dropped to 5-3.
Box Scores
FEU 67 – Sambile 27, Tanaman 15, Soriano 9, Siat 5, Gesalan 4, Albano 4, Valenzona 3, Gabriel 0, Chan 0.
DLSU 62 – Abaco 20, Santos 7, Piatos 7, Garcia 7, Corcuera 7, Ong 6, Ramos 4, Ong 4, Scott 0, Claro 0.
Quarter scoring: 16-20, 29-32, 48-45, 67-62.
Junior Archers fall to Bullpups
In Junior’s basketball, the Junior Archers absorbs their third loss in the tournament as they fall to the undefeated NU Bullpups 85-48 yesterday. DLSZ drops to 5-3 for solo third in the standings.
Box Scores
NU 85 – Cani 12, Dyke 11, Cauilan 10, Lopena 8, Go 8, Mosqueda 7, Battad 7, Lapiz 6, Grealy 5, Guzon 3, De Guzman 3, Castillo 3, Claveria 2, Manalang 0.
DLSZ 48 – Melecio 12, Subido 11, Banzon 6, Maldinger 5, Isaac 4, Romero 2, Paraiso 2, Cabarrus 2, Abanilla 2, Vizmonte 1, Sajulga 1, Tuason 0, Quintos 0, Perez 0.
Quarter scoring: 30-6, 40-16, 62-34, 85-48.