College of St. Benilde notched a fourth straight win in the Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup, but not after being taken to the proverbial limit by Arellano University on Friday.
The Blazers dropped a telling 15-3 bomb inside the final four minutes to subdue the Chiefs, 74-69, and keep their unblemished record in the tournament serving as gauge for most of NCAA and UAAP coaches at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
“I feel we didn’t play to our potential. We played to their tempo,” Benilde coach TY Tang said. “They (Chiefs) forced us into a lot of turnovers. But a win is a win, and I saw the heart of wanting to win. We just didn’t want to lose.”
With some of its mainstays struggling, Benilde got the goods from Justin Gutang and Yankee Haruna as the Blazers completed a comeback from 66-59 down going into the final 3:48.
Arellano lost for the second time in four games, no thanks to three turnovers in the last 53 seconds which ultimately translated into six Benilde points.
Tang, though, still paid tribute to the Chiefs, who have managed to hold their own here even with top
playmaker Kent Salado still recovering from a knee injury.
“If people think that Arellano isn’t any good without Salado, they have another thing coming,” said Tang.
Both sides battled through five deadlocks and eight lead changes, the result of some pesky defending by the Chiefs.
Guards Levi Dela Cruz, Dela Torre, and Richard Abanes were responsible for harassing Benilde’s frontcourt for most of the Blazers’ 25 turnovers, which the Chiefs turned to 26 points.
Haruna led the Blazers with 20 points and 14 rebounds, with the Fil-American Gutang adding 19.
Dela Cruz showed the way for Arellano with 14 points with Harry Dumagan and Dela Torre adding 11 and 10,
respectively.
San Sebastian climbed to 3-1 in Group B after a 96-88 win over reeling Jose Rizal University in another game.
The Heavy Bombers lost a fifth straight game.
The Stags drew solid games from Michael Calisaan, Alvin Capobres, Allein Bulanadi, RK Ilagan, and Ryan Costelo.