Mark De Guzman top-scored for the Blazers with 14
Next Game – July 14
(The Arena, San Juan)
10 a.m. CSB-La Salle Greenhills vs San Sebastian (Jrs)
2 p.m. St Benilde vs San Sebastian (Srs)
It’s another rebuilding year for College of Saint Benilde but it still somehow sent a strong message that it is not keen on being called as one of the pushover teams of the 86th NCAA basketball tournament.
The Blazers, despite their lack of ceiling, went to their outside shooting, transition play and energetic efforts to beat Final Four-favorite Arellano, 70-64, to jumpstart their campaign last July 5 at The Arena in San Juan.
St Benilde led for most of the way relying on the offensive sparks of Mark de Guzman, Carlo Lastimosa and Jan Tan but its defense came through in the final four minutes to secure the victory in front a large portion of students supporting on the upper level of the playing venue.
De Guzman, a former member of the RP U-18 team in 2008, topscored with 14 points, five rebounds and nine assists while Lastimosa, a nephew of basketball legend Jojo Lastimosa, hit all of his 13 points in the second half.
The lanky Tan, meanwhile, notched a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds despite playing against a more heftier and athletic Arellano frontline.
CSB, despite seven consecutive losing seasons since 2003, won its fourth consecutive opening day game dating back to the 2007 season.
“The guys showed a lot of energy and I feel this is a more-talented team compared to my team last season although this is a young team so they have the tendency to make some mental mistakes so I’m hoping they would mature as the season goes on,” said coach Richard del Rosario.
The Blazers won by relying on their outside shooting, making 9-of-26 threes while winning the rebounding battle with the Chiefs, 38-35.
They led by 10 points (47-37) midway into the third quarter but saw the Chiefs tie the game at 50-all on a three by Isiah Ciriacruz.
But St Benilde went back to retake the lead – and for good. RJ Argamino, Ralph Nayve and de Guzman hit three straight threes for a 59-50 advantage with less than two minutes remaining.
Arellano, behind rugged Jerald Lapuz made a last ditch effort cutting the CSB lead to 66-64 with 4:10 remaining.
However, that was the last gasp for the Chiefs as the Blazers quickly converted a basket with Lastimosa scoring on an alley-oop play from de Guzman then leaned on their zone defense to win it.
“We switched to a zone defense because they (Arellano) have a lot of penetrators so good thing we were able to execute those that we worked on our defense prior to this game,” said del Rosario.
Lapuz led the Chiefs with 16 points and five rebounds while Adrian Celada and Isiah Ciriacruz added 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, CSB-La Salle Greenhills start off its campaign in the juniors division on a bright note by dumping Arellano, 79-57.
The Junior Blazers were led by Thomas Torres’ 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals and Mario Bonleon’s 14 points and nine rebounds.
The scores:
Juniors
CSB-LSGH 79- Torres 17, Bonleo 14, Villaruz 11. Carlos 9, Vergara 7, Sta. Maria 5, Marcial 4, Sayson 4, Diaz 3, Trajano 2, Pumaren 2, Sy 1, Vito 0, Sta. Claro 0
ARELLANO 57- Jose 15, Sacdalan 13, Origenes 9, Gonzales 7, Virtuelles 3, Guibone 2, Perucho 0
Quarters: 17-17; 34-28; 58-51; 79-57
Seniors
ST BENILDE 70 – de Guzman 14, Lastimosa 13, Tan 12, Nayve 10, dela Paz 7, Sinco 6, Argamino 3, McCoy 2, Ongtenco 2, Abolucion 1, Manalac 0.
ARELLANO 64 – Lapuz 16, Celada 13, Ciriacruz 10, dela Rosario 7, Acidre 6, Anquilo 4, Caperal 4, Zulueta 2, Advincula 2, Palma 0, Casino 0, Virtudazo 0.
Quarters: 20-17; 36-32; 59-55; 70-64.
