College of St. Benilde fended off San Beda to barge into the Finals of the NCAA Season 98 men's basketball tournament, hacking out a nail-biting 62-61 win on Tuesday, Nov. 29, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Migs Oczon delivered big time in the clutch for the Blazers, making up for a turnover and a missed three-pointer down the last minute of the payoff period.
Behind the heroics of Oczon, who finished with 17 points on top of a perfect 8-of-8 shooting from the free throw line along with six rebounds, CSB was able to hold its 60-56 lead for a while after a huge block on JB Bahio's attempt off transition with 44 seconds left.
The Red Lions, however, clamped down on their defense and forced the Blazers to commit a 24-second shot clock violation in the ensuing play as Will Gozum, who also had another double-double performance of 10 points and 11 rebounds, couldn't convert the last-second ditch.
San Beda came in rallying in the waning seconds as Tony Ynot, with no clear space inside the paint, found James Kwekuteye from the right corner for a booming triple en route to a 60-59 deficit with 14.3 seconds left.
As pressure continued to fill in the arena, with the crowd cheering for their respective schools, Oczon showed steely nerves down the stretch and drained two crucial free throws to keep another three-point lead at 62-59 with 12.7 ticks to go.
The Lions still had their chances for their last possession but Kwekuteye couldn't replicate his shot on the same spot and missed twice from beyond the arc before Damie Cuntapay had the putback basket.
Time is of the essence at this point as only a blitz of 0.4 seconds was left on the shot clock, enabling the Blazers to march on the Finals for the first time in 20 years -- their most ambitious NCAA campaign yet in two decades.
James Pasturan also scored 16 points to go with four rebounds, Robi Nayve had eight points and three rebounds, and Miggy Corteza chipped in seven points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Jacob Cortez paced the Lions, who have missed their second straight chance for the title, with 13 points, Kwekuteye added 11 points and nine rebounds, while Bahio had nine points and seven rebounds.
St. Benilde awaits the winner between defending champion Letran and Lyceum, who are battling for the other Finals seat at press time.
The Scores:
CSB 62 -- Oczon 17, Pasturan 16, Gozum 10, Nayve 8, Corteza 7, Sangco 4, Cullar 0, Carlos 0, Marcos 0, Lepalam 0, Lim 0.
SAN BEDA 61 -- Cortez 13, Kwekuteye 11, Bahio 9, Sanchez 8, Ynot 6, Cuntapay 4, Andrada 3, Cometa 3, Alfaro 2, Visser 2, Payosing 0.
Quarters: 19-14, 34-31, 54-48, 62-61.