NCAA: ‘Lucky’ Benilde escapes JRU for fifth straight win

College of St. Benilde center Will Gozum, center, celebrates with teammates Jesse Arciaga, left, and Michael Mara in the Blazers’ win over JRU.–NCAA PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Lady luck was on the side of College of St. Benilde as it squeaked past Jose Rizal University, 84-81, in the NCAA Season 99 men’s basketball tournament at San Juan Arena.

The Blazers extended their winning streak to five games but not without a stroke of luck, according to coach Charles Tiu.

“I’m happy that we’ve been playing better but we dug ourselves a bit of a hole so we needed to bounce back,” said Tiu.

“JRU’s a really tough team, they’re really good, we got away and got lucky with this one.”

With the score tied at 62-all, Benilde went on a torrid 13-1 blitz capped by a Will Gozum basket in the paint to take a 75-63 lead.

JRU, though, refused to back down and shaved the lead to just three, 84-81, with eight ticks left in the game and had a chance to tie in the end.

Fortunately for Benilde, Gozum was there to deny Joshua Guiab’s potential game-tying triple.

The pulsating victory hiked the Blazers’ slate to 9-4 with Gozum unleashing a game-high 27 points. Miggy Corteza and Migs Oczon scored 18 and 14, respectively, in the win.

Guiab posted a double-double with 23 points and 14 rebounds but JRU dropped to 8-6.

Earlier, Perpetual Help sent Arellano to its third straight loss with an 81-74 win.

Christian Pagaran finished with 21 points to fuel the Altas to a 6-7 record. Marcus Nitura also helped the cause with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.

Jeadan Ongotan and Lorenz Capulong combined for 31 points for the Chiefs, who crashed to a lowly 2-11 card.