Forget the past and the heartaches. Forget the NCAA Season 98 finals loss to Letran. Forget the NCAA Season 99 semifinal defeat to Mapua.
Chemistry will be the name of the game for the College of St. Benilde as it ushers in a new era and seeks redemption in the NCAA’s centennial season – set to kick off on Sept. 7, Saturday, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Representing head coach Charles Tiu, assistant coach Paolo Layug told Tiebreaker Times that despite a host of new faces coming in for the Blazers, team chemistry and their belief in Tiu’s system will be their edge over their nine rival schools.
“It’s a completely different team right now, but I think this group of players has a different hunger and mindset in them,” said Layug. “From what I’ve seen so far, we have good chemistry; they trust each other and the system.”
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It isn’t just chemistry that will help them in their quest for success in the Season 100 seniors’ basketball tournament.
Their new additions – Justine Sanchez, Tony Ynot, Allen Liwag, Gabriel Cometa, among others – are also seen as a big boost for a Benilde squad that experienced key losses during the offseason.
Shortly after their NCAA Season 99 campaign, sharpshooting guard Miguel Oczon signed with Ulsan Hyundai in the Korean Basketball League.
The team then lost Will Gozum, Miggy Corteza, Prince Carlos, Robi Nayve, Felipe Marasigan, and Chris Flores to graduation.
“We lost a lot of players kasi, but we retooled the team, we brought in a lot of new recruits, and they’ve been playing for over one year already,” Layug revealed.
“We’ve joined a lot of tournaments; we really wanted to get a lot of exposure for them and also to build chemistry with each other since basically it’s a new set of players for NCAA Season 100.”
With all of these in mind – the chemistry, the recruits, and the trust in Tiu’s system – a clear goal remains for Benilde: ending their 24-year NCAA seniors’ basketball championship drought.
However, despite being tagged as title favorites, the Blazers’ title drive will not come without challenges in a stacked field that includes defending champion San Beda, Mapua University, Lyceum of the Philippines University, and Emilio Aguinaldo College.
“We have to work very hard to get there because Mapua is a really good team, San Beda is a good team, EAC will also be in the mix, all the teams are very good, and Lyceum has made back-to-back Final Four appearances as well,” he added.
