Putting a premium on consistency after an up and down first three games, College of St. Benilde sustained its play from start to finish to pound Jose Rizal University, 81-66, in the NCAA Season 94 men’s basketball tournament Tuesday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Cameroonian center Clement Leutcheu posted 20 points and 14 rebounds while Yankie Haruna added 15 points, including nine in the third quarter for the Blazers, who evened their record to 2-2.
“Before the game, what I told the guys was about consistency,” said CSB head coach TY Tang, whose squad came off a sorry loss to defending champion San Beda in a game the Blazers blew. “We’re a young team and we haven’t really played together that long.”
“We weren’t really able to execute on our plays but it’s still a win.”
Leutcheu scored 10 points in the second period where the Blazers created separation and never looked back.
“I’m just trying to help my team as much as I can. Going into the game, I just want to be aggressive on both ends,” the 6-foot-7 Leutcheu said.
CSB shot a decent 48 percent from the field while also limiting JRU to 34 percent. The Blazers also dominated the rebounding department, 49-36.
Jed Mendoza paces the winless Bombers (0-4) with 16 points, five rebounds, six assists and four steals. Mendoza, however, accounted for nine of his team’s 20 turnovers.