College of St. Benilde exacted sweet revenge on its first-round loss to Arellano with a lopsided 100-77 victory this time that cemented its grip on the top spot in the NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City on Wednesday, Oct. 16.

Gab Cometa torched the basket by scoring a career-high 23 points in only 14 minutes of action for the Blazers, who clinched their ninth win against two defeats that pulled them away from the rest of the field.

St. Benilde coach Charles Tiu credited his team’s ball movement, which was absent in their 73-71 defeat to Arellano last Oct. 4.

“It’s something we’ve been talking about since that loss. We just have to do a better job taking care of the ball, we haven’t been too smart with it,” said Tiu.

The Blazers, indeed, controlled the ball throughout. After trailing 2-0, the Taft-based crew stepped on the gas early by dictating the pace, refusing to slow down even if they were leading by as many as 34 points, 88-54, in the final canto.

So dominating was St. Benilde that they also controlled the boards, 60-43, and dished out 22 assists compared to Arellano’s 13.

The Blazers were also able to limit their turnovers -- an ugly thorn on their side the past games despite keeping its winning momentum going.

“I’ve been harping on the turnovers for weeks now, so I’m glad we finally had one game na medyo decent yung turnovers namin,” said Tiu, referring to their 11 turnovers that resulted to 13 turnover points for the Chiefs.

Justine Sanchez also fueled the Blazers with a double-double effort of 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Allen Liwag contributed 12 points on a 6-of-7 clip from the field, as well as six rebounds and five assists.

Arellano fell to 3-8 despite Troy Valencia erupting for 25 points and Jeadan Ongotan posting 15.

In the second game, San Sebastian finally snapped its eight-game losing spell as it survived Jose Rizal University, 87-85.

Paeng Are exploded for 28 points while Nico Aguilar added 13 including a dagger triple late in the game that helped the Stags improve to 3-8.

Playing without head coach Louie Gonzales, who was serving a one-game suspension, JRU’s loss tied them with San Sebastian and Arellano at the cellar.

The scores:

First Game

ST. BENILDE 100 - Cometa 23, Sanchez 14, Liwag 12, Ancheta 8, Torres 8, Turco 6, Ondoa 6, Oli 5, Morales 4, Carillo 4, Eusebio 3, Sangco 3, Cajucom 2, Jarque 2, Arciaga 0.

ARELLANO 77 - Valencia 25, Ongotan 15, Geronimo 10, Capulong 8, Vinoya 7, Flores 6, Borromeo 2, Miller 2, Camay 2, Espiritu 0, Acop 0, De Leon 0, Libang 0, Abiera 0.

Quarters: 26-12; 54-36; 76-49; 100-77.

Second Game

SAN SEBASTIAN 87– Are 28, Escobido 17, Aguilar 13, R. Gabat 11, Felebrico 8, L. Gabat 5, Velasco 2, Ricio 2, Cruz 1, Suico 0, Pascual 0.

JRU 85 – Raymundo 20, Argente 20, Guiab 17, Sarmiento 8, Lozano 7, Barrera 4, Panapanaan 2, Bernardo 2, Pangilinan 2, Garcia 2, De Jesus 1, De Leon 0, Benitez 0, Ferrer 0.

Quarterscores: 28-14; 42-36; 64-56; 87-85.