The De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) Blazers secured a Top 4 ranking at the expense of Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) Pirates, 84-78, on Monday, June 5, at the Filoil EcoOil Center, San Juan City.
The first two minutes of the game started slow until Miggy Corteza drove in with a successful fastbreak, 2-0. The scoring spree continued along with Paul Turco’s effort, 7-0. Corteza and Turco continued to make it rain along with team captain Robi Nayve in keeping the lead up to as high as eight, 9-1. The Taft squad did not let the Muralla boys clinch a double digit score until they got stuck at 12 with Gyle Montaño and Simon Peñafiel cutting the lead by two, 12-10. Mclaude Guadaña also stepped up as Shawn Umali towered their defense, but the first quarter ended still in favor of the Blazers, 22-18.
Enoch Valdez opened the second canto for the Pirates but Benilde’s Joshua Cajucom answered. Valdez led the Muralla squad to be up by one, 28-29, but thanks to Miguel Oczon and Ray Carlos who kept up by adding fuel to their scoring machines. It was a tight quarter and it was a scary scenario for the Blazers as John Barba led the Muralla squad to leave the men in green and white behind by six, 34-40. Zenric Jarque was able to tie the ball game at 43 all in the last minute but Umali’s split charity led them up by one, 43-44.
The third quarter was a good start for the Blazers as Corteza came back stronger as a well-oiled scoring machine, leading the team to be up by 11, 64-53. Mark Sangco also showed composure for the team, along with Oczon as they wrapped up another quarter, 69-64.
Jarque earned most of his minutes in the final quarter as he worked closely with Sangco. Michael Mara towered up his defenses as he led the game with his defensive blocks. The scoring ended up early with 1 minute and 51 seconds still left on the clock, before several failed attempts from the LPU squad to cut their winning streak after bowing to the Benilde Blazers, 84-78.
Corteza was hailed as player of the game after posting 23 points, and three total rebounds. Turco and Mara also finished in double digits with 11 and 10 points respectively.
Box Scores:
DLS-CSB (84): Corteza 23, Turco 11, Mara 10, Carlos 8, Oczon 7, Cajucom 7, Flores 6, Jarque 5, Sangco 2, Marasigan 0, Arciaga 0, Serrano 0
LPU (78): Valdez 14, Montaño 12, Barba 10, Omandac 9, Peñafiel 8, Umali 7, Guadaña 6, Fuentes 5, Cunanan 4, Aviles 3, Moralejo 0, Villegas 0, Versoza 0
