Behind a masterful outing from Miguel Oczon, College of Saint Benilde bounced back to its winning ways in the NCAA Season 99 Seniors Basketball Tournament with an impressive 87-72 victory over San Sebastian College-Recoletos on Saturday at the Filoil Ecooil Centre.
Oczon, a third year guard who transferred from NU to CSB, scored a career-high 29 points on 7-of-11 shooting from three.
Oczon caught fire early on, as 11 of his 29 points came in the first quarter, going 3-of-3 from deep.
The rest of Benilde struggled to find the same success as Oczon, though, helping San Sebastian stay in the game despite Oczon’s performance.
The match only got out of hand in the final frame, where Benilde pulled away by outscoring the Stags 23-13 in the quarter to end the game.
The Blazers kicked off the quarter with a 10-0 run courtesy of Nayve, who had nine of his points in the fourth quarter alone. The Stags had no answer to the Blazers’ offensive flurry as Benilde came away a rebound win.
“It’s nice to finally get a win… we’re trying to pick things up and remind the guys that they’re probably pressuring themselves to try and win a championship. I said, just try to forget about the championship right now and focus on one game at a time and just enjoy,” said Blazers head coach Tiu.
Nayve added 16 points, while Season 98 MVP Will Gozum had a double-double of 13 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists.
With the victory, the Blazers overtook San Sebastian in the standings to move up to the sixth seed with a 2-3 record.
They look to eliminate their negative record on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. against University of Perpetual Help System DALTA.
Rafael Are paced San Sebastian with 15 points, followed by Raymart Escobido with 13. Romel Calahat had 12 points, but his seven turnovers were crucial in his squad’s loss.
San Sebastian’s early hardships persisted as it dropped to 1-3 for the season in a deadlock with UPHSD. It faces the streaking Jose Rizal University next on Tuesday at 2:00 p.m.
The Scores:
CSB 87– Oczon 29, Nayve 16, Gozum 13, Arciaga 9, Marasigan 6, Turco 5, Corteza 4, Jarque 3, Sangco 2, Carlos 0, Cajucom 0, Marcos 0, Morales 0
San Sebastian 72– Are 15, Escobido 13, Calahat 12, Una 8, Sumoda 7, Re. Gabat 5, Shanoda 5, Felebrico 3, Desoyo 3, Ra. Gabat 1, Bacani 0, de Leon 0
Quarterscores: 17-20, 43-39, 64-59, 87-72
