College of Saint Benilde doused the hopes of Emilio Aguinaldo College late, taking a 78-68 win, to get their third straight win in NCAA Season 97 seniors basketball tournament, Tuesday at La Salle Greenhills’ St. Benilde Gym in Mandaluyong City.
Robi Nayve and Prince Carlos kept the Generals at bay as the opponent would not back down with Ralph Robin on fire in the final quarter.
Carlos extended the lead for CSB to 12, 64-52, with 6:02 left in the game.
Though Robin kept the Generals in the game, Joshua Marcos provided the muscle for the Blazers to put them away for good.
The former LSGH Greenie grabbed two straight offensive rebounds, the second which turned into the dagger putback and sealed the deal with an additional free throw, 77-66, with 1:11 left in the ball game.
The Generals got more bad news as Robin went down as he stepped on Nayve in an attempt to recover the ball with 40 seconds left in the game.
Nayve torched the basket with 18 points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block. Will Gozum ended with yet another double-double game with 18 markers and 10 rebounds to go with three steals, one assist, and one block. Marcos, on the other hand, also grabbed 10 boards, 10 points, and five assists.
“Finally, it’s the first game that we won the rebounding battle. So that was one issue we wanted to address,” CSB head coach Charles Tiu said of their 44-41 lead on the boards. “Still, we could have done better. I’m still not happy with the way we rebounded, but overall we had a much better game today.”
Robin exploded with 21 points for EAC and one assist. Meanwhile, JC Luciano added 13 markers, 12 rebounds, an assist, and two blocks.
The Blazers keep in step with the undefeated teams Letran, San Beda, and Mapua, with just half a game behind with 3-1. On the other hand, the Generals slipped to 1-3.
CSB will try to keep this streak going against the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA (1-2) on April 9 at 12 nn. EAC will then battle Jose Rizal University (0-3) later in the day at 3 p.m.
The Scores:
CSB 78 – Nayve 18, Gozum 18, Marcos 10, Carlos 10, Corteza 6, Publico 6, Benson 6, Sangco 2, Mosqueda 2, Cullar 0, Lim 0, Lepalam 0, Flores 0.
EAC 68 – Robin 21, Luciano 13, Liwag 10, Doria Ad. 8, Magullano 6, Taywan 3, Consejo 3, Cadua 2, Bunyi 2, Cosa 0, Quenal 0.
Quarterscores: 21-14, 38-36, 58-48, 78-68.
