College of St. Benilde clinched a final four spot for the first time in 20 years on Tuesday.
This, after winning a hard-fought victory against San Sebastian College-Recoletos on Tuesday, 83-78.
‘Great’ was the only word to describe the feelings of Blazers head coach Charles Tiu. After all, no coach has achieved this feat in the past two decades – just him.
“It feels great, to be honest. It’s one of the goals we had this season, especially since not a lot of people expected us to be in the Final Four,” said Tiu who coached the historic CSB team.
“I think sa press conference, si coach Yuri (Escueta) lang ‘yung nagsabi na baka Benilde ang contender. For us, we don’t really mind what other people say, we just try to get better every game,” he continued.
“To me, it’s the hard work.”
It was a great bounce-back season so far for Tiu following the heartbreak for his team back in Season 97. There, they had a fifth-place finish, losing to Perpetual Help Altas in the play-in tournament.
The assistant-turned-head coach dedicated this win to the former Blazers head coach TY Tang, who migrated to the Great White North back in 2021. Tang had his final coaching season back in Season 95.
“We dedicate this to Coach TY, he had to go through a lot in the first two years, a lot of heartbreaks, and kami we’re a family here in CSB. Even if you’re not playing anymore, I’m happy to see some guys still supporting our team,” Tiu said.
“It’s about time the school makes it to the Final Four. I hope we can still go farther.”
And speaking of heartbreaks, Will Gozum who had a roller coaster ride of a college career was just happy to finally be a key part of a championship contender team.
“Happy ako. Nagsimula ‘to lahat nung kinuha ako nila coach Charles. Wala akong confidence before and ngayon bumabalik. Thankful ako sa coaches na sinusuklian ko lang din ‘yung mga binibigay nila sa akin,” said Gozum who finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists.
Currently, the Blazers are sitting at the two spot with an 11-4 win-loss record – their best record since their 10-4 finish all the way back to Season 78.
And as for their head coach, they wanted to remain at the position that they currently are because of the advantage that they can use come the semifinals.
“We had to earn it and I’m happy, but the job’s not done,” he said.
“Right now I’ll be honest, we want to target the top two spots if we can get it. Alam naman natin ‘yung advantage na ‘yun.”
