By: Miguel Caramoan
Starting frontcourt Allen Liwag and Shawn Umali led College of Saint Benilde to a thrilling come-from-behind 70-67 victory over Lyceum of the Philippines University in the NCAA Season 101 Seniors Basketball Tournament on Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
After trailing by as much as 16 points, the Blazers grabbed the lead at 58-57 on a triple from former Pirate Umali. Benilde then went on a 10-2 run to extend the lead to 68-59.
Lyceum, however, mounted a late 8-0 surge, fueled by back-to-back baskets from Renz Villegas and a triple from Nathaniel Fuentes. Together, they cut the deficit to 68-67 with 37 seconds remaining.
Still, Liwag delivered the decisive blow, sinking a clutch basket that sealed the win for the Blazers.
The reigning MVP finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. Meanwhile, Umali added 11 points and seven boards — five of them in the fourth quarter — to help lift Benilde to victory.
“We wanted to try it out naman pero siyempre nung nagka-dengue si Allen, it kind of changed our plans. Minsan we feel we were slow, but today I liked the way Shawn played,” said Benilde head coach Charles Tiu on starting Liwag and Umali for the first time this season.
“Medyo ganado siguro siya kasi former team niya and grabe siya rumebound and it’s been something we’re trying to work on,” he added.
“Pero di talaga namin matyempo yung dalawa nung preseason kasi may mga injuries, but that’s something we look forward to playing them a bit more. But siyempre, I wanted to give some of my other bigs some confidence to play some minutes, pero it’s winning time and every game really matters now. I don’t think we have much margin of error, so we tried it out and it worked.”
Lyceum started the game strong in the first quarter, with Villegas scoring seven quick points to build a 16-7 lead. A disqualifying foul on Jake Gaspay with 10 seconds left in the period opened the door for Omar Gordon, who closed the quarter with key baskets to extend the lead to 24-10.
The Blazers responded in the second quarter, led by Liwag’s eight points, but Jonathan Daileg kept the Pirates ahead with six of his 10 first-half points, giving LPU a 41-33 lead at halftime.
Early in the third quarter, back-to-back triples from Joshua Moralejo pushed Lyceum’s lead to 51-37. Benilde then closed the period on a 9-0 run, capped by a Raffy Celis three-pointer, cutting the deficit to 55-49.
“We just started playing basketball. To be honest, I don’t know what the heck we were doing in the first quarter – it was embarrassing. Eight turnovers, nonsense, no defense – I don’t know what I was watching, and so disappointed in the way we played,” Tiu said about the team’s rough start and how they bounced back.
He added, “But despite that, we tried to stay positive and we had a long meeting yesterday to talk and straighten things out.
“I’m glad we were able to respond in the second half, but still, we’re up by nine and we almost got into overtime. So lots of things to work on, not good late game composure and I really can’t say that I’m pleased with the win.”
The victory moved Benilde into a tie for second place in Group B, sharing a 5-3 record with the Letran Knights.
“Well, there’s no way to go but up, I’d like to think. I was so worried that if we lost today, it might be a long season. But with this new format, everybody has a chance. We want to win every game and we want to get that top two seed,” Tiu said on the battle for the top two spots in Group B.
“We’re not playing the way we should be playing, and we’ve got to figure it out. There’s just five more games, so we need to find ways and have some big games coming up.”
Benilde hopes to use this win as a springboard in their highly anticipated matchup against defending champions Mapua next week at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Lyceum, meanwhile, fell for the second straight game and is tied with San Sebastian at the bottom of Group A with a 1-7 record.
Without Ato Barba, Villegas led the Pirates with 14 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, while Daileg added 10 points. Gordon and Moralejo chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Pirates’ final crossover assignment will be against Group B leader San Beda on November 4 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The Scores:
Benilde 70 – Liwag 16, Umali 11, Cajucom 9, Ynot 8, Celis 8, Sanchez 7, Ancheta 4, Torres 2, Moore 2, Eusebio 2, Gaspay 1, Cometa 0, Morales 0, Oli 0
Lyceum 67 – Villegas 14, Gordon 11, Daileg 10, Moralejo 10, Aviles 6, Versoza 6, Montano 5, Fuentes 3, Pallingayan 2, Aurigue 0, Penafiel 0
Quarterscores: 10-24, 33-41, 49-55, 70-67
