College of St. Benilde’s Gab Cometa prepares to shoot during a game against Arellano in NCAA Season 100.–NCAA PHOTO
What a difference 13 turnovers makes; they showed just how much more difficult St. Benilde is to play against when the Blazers are not giving the ball away as much.
Gab Cometa stole the spotlight during the match, firing a career-best 23 points on Wednesday to lead the Blazers to a vindictive 100-77 demolition of Arellano in the NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball tournament.
Cometa made his performance shine even brighter by coughing that up off the bench.
“I’m comfortable off the bench. That way, I could assess what’s happening on the court and the things that I need to contribute once I get inside,’’ said the shifty guard from Cebu in Filipino after the Blazers notched their ninth win in 11 games.
Out of the spotlight, however, printed on one row in the stat sheet was the story of the win: St. Benilde turned the ball over just 11 times on Wednesday, a much improved number than the 24 they logged the first time they played the Chiefs, which ended in a 73-71 upset.
“It’s been something we’ve talked about since that loss [to Arellano]. We just needed to take better care of the basketball,’’ said Benilde coach Charles Tiu. “We haven’t been too smart with it.’’
“Today, we made some adjustments. I’ve been stressing those turnovers for weeks now,’’ Tiu added.
St. Benilde is now a full game up on Mapua, which is second at 8-3 (win-loss).
San Sebastian triumphs
Cometa does deserve his place in the sky, though.
He drilled holes in the Arellano defense and went 10 of 14 from the field to complement the starters. Justine Sanchez had 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Allen Liwag contributed 12 points.
“I know I have to be a leader on the court. My teammates treat me as such, so I took on that role,’’ said Cometa, who scored 17 points in the first half as the Blazers built an 18-point advantage early in the second quarter and never looked back.
The Chiefs plummeted to their eighth defeat against three wins, despite 25 points from Troy Valencia and 15 by Jeadan Ongotan.
The Blazers were also more efficient in other statistical departments, dishing off 22 assists and crashing the boards for 60 rebounds, 22 of them from the offensive glass.
The show of dominance, however, didn’t let Tiu feel any sense of ownership of the season. At least, not yet.
“You feel nervous every game, so you cannot tell if it’s a sure win against any team. You really have to earn it,’’ said Tiu, who has the Blazers grounded with seven games to go in the second round and with the Jose Rizal University (JRU) Heavy Bombers coming up.
“JRU on Sunday. I thought they outplayed us in the second half the first time we met. We’ll be ready to find a way to win because they’ve been giving other teams a tough time,’’ said Tiu.
The Bombers are coming off a loss in the other Wednesday game, as the San Sebastian Stags finally ended an eight-game slide with an 87-85 thriller.
Nico Aguilar nailed a stepback three in the closing seconds, that bounced on the rim thrice before trickling in, and preserved his heroics by splitting his free throws with 7.7 ticks left.