The De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) Blazers finished NCAA Season 95 Men’s Basketball with a 9-9 win-loss record after winning their final match against the Mapua University (MU) Cardinals, 68-62, yesterday, October 18, at the FilOil Flying V Centre, San Juan.


Photo by Jonn Aaron Metierre

Graduating players Yankie Haruna and Clement Leutcheu led the Blazers to their first quarter victory, scoring six points and five points respectively. Despite the Cardinals catching up with Blazers’ nine-point lead, they failed to overpower their composure, 22-19.


Photo by Jonn Aaron Metierre

The second canto was dominated by Haruna alongside fellow Blazers Justin Gutang, Unique Naboa, Kendrix Belgica, and Robi Nayve, contributing 13 combined points and stretching their lead to 10. Meanwhile, Cardinal Noah Lugo maintained his composure and led his team with four points in an attempt to stop the bleeding, however, the combined forces of the Taft squad ended the quarter with a six-point lead, 39-25.

The Blazers continued to overshadow the Cardinals in the third quarter as Carlo Young pitched in two out of his three shots beyond the arc along with stalwart cager Gutang’s consecutive two-pointers and a slam dunk. Meanwhile, things got heated between Blazer veteran Edward Dixon and Cardinal Christian Buñag as they were called for exhibiting unsportsmanlike conduct. In the last four seconds, Naboa fired a three-pointer increasing the gap to eight points to claim the quarter, 52-44.


Photo by Jonn Aaron Metierre

With the Cardinals struggling to inch closer, the Taft squad activated tenderfoots Carlo Lim and Sidney Mosqueda who powered up the team, contributing three points and two points, respectively. Despite Cardinals Justin Serrano‘s response with a three-point shot alongside Denniel Aguirre‘s back-to-back pointers, they still failed to surpass the men in green and white. The Cardinals were called for successive fouls in the last seconds of the deciding quarter, allowing the Blazers to increase the margin and eventually clinching their final match of the season, 68-62.

Box Scores:

DLS-CSB (68): Haruna 13, Leutcheu 8, Young 8, Gutang 8, Naboa 8, Flores 6, Belgica 5, Dixon 4, Mosqueda 3, Nayve 3, Lim 2, Carlos 0

MU (62): Lugo 13, Serrano 11, Aguirre 10, Buñag 9, Gonzales 7, Bonifacio 7, Victoria 3, Nocum 2, Gamboa 0, Nieles 0, Salenga 0, Jabel 0, Garcia 0

Quarter Scores: 22-19, 35-29, 52-44, 68-62.