FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines-Leaving the struggling brass behind, the College of St. Benilde Blazers blew past the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, 83-76, at the Arena in San Juan Friday evening during their outing in the second round of the seniors basketball tournament of the NCAA.
CSB built a 21-point fort in the third quarter, 61-40, with Jose Mercado nailing a three-pointer from the right wing but the Generals, with their guns ablaze, put on an offensive assault going on a 15-0 run to cut the lead to six, 55-61, in the final two minutes of the period with Jerald Serrano draining a triple from the wings to cap it off.
Despite the win, Blazers head coach Gabby Velasco was not that happy with win as they let the Generals nearly take the game away from them.
“It’s a win but honestly, we’re not too happy with it,” Velasco said. “We were not smart enough, we were up by 20 then we almost lost the lead.”
CSB took full advantage of the low ceiling of EAC which was without the services of center Noube Happi who was suffering from lingering back pains.
EAC came to within four, 74-79, in the final minute of the game with Jack Arquero scoring on a three-point play.
Blazers forward Mark Romero cooled off a probable General assault hitting on a driving layup with 32.6 seconds remaining to give his team a seven-point lead, 81-74.
Velasco added that it was his team’s defense that held off the pesky Generals.
“We won because of our defense, lowering their field goal percentage and limiting them,” Velasco said whose team notched a 6-4 record, one game better than his team’s record in the previous season.
Forward Paolo Taha led the trail for the Blazers with 24 points, mostly coming from the inside, to go along with seven boards.
Taha’s running mate Jonathan Grey added 14 points while power forward Mark Romero had a near double-double of 10 points and eight assists.
Sidney Onwubere, who averages less than eight points a game, was the commanding General with 19 points and 15 boards, eight of which from the offensive end.
Ariel Aguilar was second-in-command with 17 points while John Tayongtong and Jan Jamon added 15 and 11, respectively, for the Generals who dropped to a 3-7 slate.