MANILA, Philippines – A youthful College of St. Benilde snapped a two-game tailspin as it withstood another gutsy stand by Perpetual Help, 88-83, Friday in the 87th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Arena in San Juan.
Newcomers Juan Taha and Mark Romero and main man Carlo Lastimosa spearheaded the Blazers to their second victory as they ably halted the dangerous Altas’ rally midway the fourth period.
Taha, Romero and Lastimosa, who combined for 42 points, sparked the 8-0 run that gave the Blazers the final advantage after the hot shooting Perpetual Help wrested the lead, 75-73.
But it was their free throw shooting, albeit sub par, that carried the Blazers through as they made five out of eight freebies down the stretch.
“It’s a good thing we recovered in this game. It’s a much better performance than the last, but I’m still not happy about our defense,” said St. Benilde head coach Richard Del Rosario.
St. Benilde bounced back from a horrible outing against Letran last week, 91-112, and after falling just a point short, 78-79, of blemishing San Beda’s perfect record since season 86.
“After we lost to San Beda (by just one point), and everyone was congratulating us. But I reminded them that almost is not good enough,” Del Rosario added.
The Blazers erected a seemingly-safe 11-point lead, 67-56, built on a strong 7-2 start in the fourth quarter.
But that was before the cellar-dwelling Altas, who are fresh from their first victory after five starts, started showering them with six triples.
Marksman Jett Vidal, rookie Earl Thompson, Harold Arboleda and even forward Anthony Paulino knocked in at least a triple each in that stretch, but could not get any breaks in the last two minutes.
Thompson, hailing from Davao, clocked in a game-high 23 points on another telling performance.
The Atlas actually came out guns ablaze in this match anchored by their fluid offense, even leading by as many as seven in the second quarter, 36-29.
Meanwhile, pace-setting San Beda ran over a hapless Emilio Aguinaldo College, 103-62, in the curtain raiser.
Garvo Lanete shattered his previous career best with 32 points that went with five rebounds and four swipes as the Red Lions sustained its spotless record at 5-0.
Defending champion San Beda snared 34 points on the break, compared to EAC’s 10, to the delight of its coach Frankie Lim.
“I challenge them to come back to our old self. This is our game, running,” Lim said.
The 40-point margin is the biggest since the thrashing of San Sebastian also of the Generals last year, 106-66.