James Forrester gets hit on the face by Luis Sinco as he goes up for a shot. Photo from Filoil Flying V Sports Facebook account.
MANILA, Philippines — Arellano rolled to its third straight win after disposing of College of St. Benilde, 63-50, Saturday in the 2013 Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup at the Arena in San Juan.
The Chiefs knocked down five treys which proved to be the huge difference in the game but their stingy defense, especially down the stretch helped them stay unscathed.
“Last year, we concentrated on offense,” said head coach Koy Banal. “This year we are looking in improve on our defense.”
The 50 points scored by St. Benilde, which missed 16 attempts from downtown, are the lowest so far in the two weeks of the Filoil tournament.
Arellano was also steadier down the stretch, going on a 15-9 wind-up to bury the winless St. Benilde and take the lead in Group A.
“We took up the challenge of trying to win three straight; something we were not able to do last year,” said graduating Fil-Canadian James Forrester, who finished with nine points in 3-of-10 shooting from downtown.
Guard John Pinto led the Chiefs with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists while Prince Caperal and comebacking Kieth Agovida had 10 each.
No player from St. Benilde finished in double digits with Mark Romero and Mark Saavedra scoring with eight markers apiece.
The lone bright spot for the Blazers was getting a 45-44 advantage on the boards but they still allowed the Chiefs to get a 17-6 edge on second chance points.
The scores:
ARELLANO 63 – Pinto 17, Caperal 10, Agovida 10, Forrester 9, Hernandez 5, Jalalon 5, Nicholls 3, Enriquez 2, Bangga 2, Salcedo 0, Cadavis 0, Gumaru 0.
ST. BENILDE 50 – Romero 8, Saavedra 8, Garcia 7, Bartolo 6, Grey 5, Argamino 5, Ongteco 4, Jonson 4, Taha 3, Sinco 0, Deles 0, Nayve 0, De Guzman 0.