College of St. Benilde showed mastery over Emilio Aguinaldo College, taking a 73-61 victory, in the NCAA Season 98 Seniors Basketball Tournament on Saturday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Only down by four, 59-63 after an Allen Liwag basket, the Generals could not convert a single bucket in the following six minutes of the layoff period.
St. Benilde took advantage of the ice-cold EAC and sparked a 7-0 blast capped by Miguel Corteza with 50 seconds left to get a 67-59 lead.
“I always say that I’m scared with teams na may losing streak. But I like EAC, I like coach Oliver. They are a good team. Their struggles are really surprising me. They played well, they defend us well. We’re happy that we were able to escape with the win,” said CSB head coach Charles Tiu.
The Blazers were leading by as much as 14, 35-21 following a Robi Nayve three-point shot right before entering the middle mark of the second quarter.
St. Benilde is currently sitting at the top spot with a 5-1 win-loss record, while the Generals got their fifth straight defeat, now with 0-5.
After missing two games due to protocols, Migs Oczon led St. Benilde in scoring with 14 points despite shooting 4-of-13 from the field. Miguel Corteza added 12 markers on 50-percent shooting, with eight boards, and an assist.
Will Gozum meanwhile finished with a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds.
For the Generals, Ralph Robin and Allen Liwag ended up with 15 points a piece. Robin added six rebounds and five assists to the stats sheet, while Liwag had 12 boards and two dimes.
St. Benilde will face Mapua University (1-5) on Wednesday at 12:00 NN. On the other hand, EAC will take on University of Perpetual Help System DALTA (2-3) on Tuesday, 3:00 PM.
The Scores:
CSB 73 — Oczon 14, Corteza 12, Gozum 11, Carlos 9, Cullar 8, Pasturan 7, Nayve 6, Sangco 2, Marcos 2, Lepalam 2, Sumabat 0, Davis 0.
EAC 61 — Liwag 15, Robin 15, Maguliano 10, Cosa 4, Bajon 4, Tolentino 3, An. Doria 3, Umpad 3, Luciano 2, Cosejo 2, Balowa 0, Quinal 0, Dominguez 0.
Quarterscores: 24-13, 43-39, 57-52, 73-61.
