College of Saint Benilde secured a revenge win over Arellano University, cruising to a dominant 100-77 victory to stay atop the standings in the NCAA Season 100 Seniors Basketball Tournament on Wednesday at the Filoil Ecooil Centre.
The Blazers avenged their 73-71 upset loss to the Chiefs on October 4 with a resounding performance.
For Benilde’s fourth-year head coach Charles Tiu, the key to their dominant win was cutting down on turnovers, an issue that plagued them in the first-round meeting.
“It’s been something we’ve talked about since that loss. We just needed to take better care of the basketball. We haven’t been too smart with it,” Tiu said, referring to the 24 turnovers they committed in their previous game against Arellano.
“Today, we made some adjustments. I’ve been stressing those turnovers for weeks now. At least today, we had a game na medyo decent yung turnovers namin,” he added, as the Blazers reduced their errors to just 11 this time.
Gab Cometa spearheaded the Blazers’ offense, firing a career-high 23 points. The fiery Cebuano guard shot an impressive 10-of-14 from the field, including three triples.
“He’s one of the guys we challenged. He owned up to the game against San Sebastian. Sabi niya babawi siya, and he more than made up for it,” said Tiu, referring to Cometa’s six-point performance in Benilde’s 91-85 win over San Sebastian last weekend.
Cometa caught fire early, dropping 17 points in the first half to help the Blazers build a 33-15 lead early in the second quarter.
The rest of the team followed suit, pushing the lead to as much as 34 points, 88-54, late in the contest.
With the victory, Benilde improved to 9-2, keeping a one-game lead over second-running Mapua.
“We have to focus on our goal, which is to finish number one in the elimination round. Any given day, any team can beat another team. It’s been a great season so far,” Tiu said.
Cometa’s close friend Justine Sanchez chipped in a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Allen Liwag contributed 12 points and six boards.
Every Blazer except for Jesse Arciaga got on the scoreboard.
Tony Ynot remains day-to-day due to injury.
Benilde will take on JRU on Sunday at 12 p.m.
Meanwhile, Arellano, now 3-8 and still in ninth place, was led by Troy Valencia’s 25 points.
Jeadan Ongatan added 15 points for the Chiefs, who will look to bounce back on Saturday against Lyceum.
The Scores:
Saint Benilde 100 – Cometa 23, Sanchez 14, Liwag 12, Ancheta 8, Torres 8, Turco 6, Ondoa 6, Oli 5, Morales 4, Carillo 4, Eusebio 3, Sangco 3, Cajucom 2, Jarque 2, Arciaga 0.
Arellano 77 – Valencia 25, Ongotan 15, Geronimo 10, Capulong 8, Vinoya 7, Flores 6, Borromeo 2, Miller 2, Camay 2, Espiritu 0, Acop 0, De Leon 0, Libang 0, Abiera 0.
Quarterscores: 26-12, 54-36, 76-53 100-77.
