St. Benilde Blazers’ Will Gozum. –NCAA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—College of St. Benilde spoiled Jose Rizal University’s return, 92-79, in the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball tournament at San Juan Arena on Wednesday.
The Heavy Bombers’ five-game winning streak was also snapped by the Blazers, who improved to 9-2.
“With the way we played today, I am satisfied. JRU is a good team, maybe we caught a break because they came from COVID, key guys were out and they may have ran out of gas, but I still think they are final four contenders,” coach Charles Tiu said.
JRU, which stumbled to a 5-3 record, had not played for 18 days due to health and safety protocol violations.
Will Gozum notched a career-high 34 points and eight rebounds en route to the win. The frontrunner for MVP also helped the Blazers on the defensive side in the third quarter, where they limited JRU to just 15 points.
Benilde forced the Heavy Bombers to 19 team turnovers while also registering eight steals and three blocks as a whole.
Three more Blazers finished in double digits as Migs Corteza, Miguel Oczon and Jimboy Pasturan scored 13, 12 and 10, respectively. Oczon also snagged 10 boards for a double-double performance.
Ry Dela Rosa got 26 markers in a losing effort. John Amores and Joshua Guiab had 19 and 12 to their names, respectively.
The Scores:
CSB 92 — Gozum 34, Corteza 13, Oczon 12, Pasturan 10, Sumabat 9, Sangco 4, Carlos 4, Cullar 2, Nayve 2, Mara 2, Flores 0, Dimayuga 0.
JRU 79 — Dela Rosa 26, Amores 19, Guiab 12, Medina 7, Miranda 6, Sy 4, Gonzales 3, Dionisio 2, Joson 0, De Jesus 0, Tan 0, Famaranco 0.
Quarters: 20-19, 45-43, 67-58, 92-79.