Lastimosa bounces back for St. Benilde in the NCAA

MANILA—St. Benilde hotshot Carlo Lastimosa was in tears after he missed a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer against San Beda two weeks ago.

Given the same chance against Jose Rizal U, the guard from Cagayan de Oro City made the most out of the opportunity.

Lastimosa capped his brilliance with the game-winning lay-up with 5.2 seconds remaining that lifted the Blazers to a come-from-behind 78-77 victory over the Bombers for their third win in seven games in the 87th NCAA basketball tournament last Wednesday.

“I’m happy I was able to give the team a win and I made up for that last shot against San Beda,” said Lastimosa, who finished with a career-high 30 points.

As a player who welcomes the pressure of having the ball in his hands when the game is on the line, Lastimosa certainly rose to the occasion.

“When I had the ball, I wanted to finish the play myself,” said Lastimosa, whose exploits also earned for him the Accel-3XVI NCAA Press Corps Player of the Week plum.

Lethal in the open court, Lastimosa has emerged as one of the most explosive guards in the league with a variety of moves in his arsenal.

Lastimosa finished with a game-high 30 points on an 8-for-12 field goal shooting while hitting 14-for-19 in the free throw line to go with four rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes of action against the Bombers.

St. Benilde coach Richard del Rosario sees a lot of big things ahead for his high-scoring guard.

“He was crying after that loss (to San Beda). I just told him to let this experience make you a better player because he would get another chance,” Del Rosario said of Lastimosa, a nephew of former PBA great Jojo Lastimosa.

“Another chance for Carlo and this time he took it strong and won the game for us.”