College of St. Benilde bounced back from a tough loss against Letran and vented its ire on Arellano, hacking out an 84-72 win in the NCAA Season 98 men's basketball tournament Wednesday, Sept. 28, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Another monster performance from Will Gozum enabled the Blazers to improve at 4-1 record as the former NCAA Juniors' Most Valuable Player finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Mark Sangco added 11 points and eight rebounds while JC Cullar had 10 points and dished out seven assists for CSB.
"We just got stops and we were able to run and play fast. That’s what we want naman. We were able to play some good defense, 'di ba?" said Blazers head coach Charles Tiu.
The Blazers waxed hot in the second quarter and dropped 32 points to reach a comfortable 52-35 cushion heading into the next half.
CSB, which tied Lyceum at the leaderboard with identical 4-1 records, never looked back from that point and continued its offensive assault behind the efforts of Gozum and Cullar.
Though the Blazers were leading most of the game, the Chiefs never wavered and tried to push back slowly but to no avail.
With less than a minute left, St. Benilde still asserted dominance and maintained its lead with an 82-69 margin as Arellano just couldn't find its scoring touch.
"I’m not so happy with the way we ended the game, but at least it’s a win so we’re very grateful, so thank the Lord for the win," added Tiu.
Axel Doromal led all scorers with 23 points while Cade Flores and Danielle Mallari hammered down 15 and 11 points each and combined for 25 rebounds on a losing effort.
The Chiefs, for their part, suffered their second straight defeat and fell to a 3-3 slate.
The Scores:
CSB 84 -- Gozum 15, Sangco 11, Cullar 10, Lim 7, Corteza 6, Sumabat 6, Flores 6, Cajucom 6, Carlos 5, Nayve 5, Marcos 5, Pasturan 2, Lepalam 0, Davis 0, Mara 0.
ARELLANO 72 -- Doromal 23, Flores 15, Mallari 11, Menina 7, Oliva 5, Talampas 4, Tolentino 4, Abastillas 2, Oftana 1, Punzalan 0, Sunga 0.
Quarters: 20-20, 52-35, 67-49, 84-72.