BENILDE learned the hard way that a commanding first half and a place atop the NCAA Season 102 standings mean little if the job is not finished.
The red-hot Blazers saw their four-game winning streak snapped in stunning fashion, absorbing an 86-78 defeat to down-but-not-out Emilio Aguinaldo College after letting a 15-point lead slip away.
READ: EAC puts on stone-cold stunner on streaking Benilde
For CSB main man Justine Sanchez, their confidence was at a high after taking control early, but their intensity dropped just as sharply, allowing the Generals to engineer the upset.
“Masyado kaming kumpyansa. Lamang kami ng first half, bumaba kami,” he told SPIN.ph.
Indeed, the Blazers looked poised to extend their winning run after pouring in 56 points in the first half, including 11 three-pointers on 20 attempts.
Then the green-and-white offense sputtered after the break, managing just 22 points in the second half, as EAC tightened its defensive screws.
They finished 28-of-64 from the field for 43.8-percent, a steep drop from their 19-of-32 clip before halftime. Their outside shooting also cooled considerably, as they made just three of their 21 attempts from beyond the arc in the second half to finish 14-of-41 for 34.1-percent.
Sanchez, who finished with 16 points on six-of-10 shooting and seven rebounds, acknowledged that Benilde failed to match their opponents' urgency and struggled to find answers against defensive adjustments made on them.
“Nakulangan lang kami sa double-effort and mas ginusto rin nilang manalo kaysa sa amin,” he said.
“Hindi kami nakapag-adjust du'n sa switching nila, and credit to them, ang ganda ng dinepensa nila sa'min. Nu'ng second half, mas hinigpitan nila at 'yun 'yung naging breaks of the game.”
Lesson learned for Benilde
The defeat served as a reminder for the Blazers of how quickly momentum can turn when a team loses its edge, particularly against an opponent with nothing to lose and everything to prove.
CSB's challenge now is to ensure that the setback does not become a turning point in the wrong direction.
“This is the time na 'yung character namin, mate-test lang kung paano kami bounce-back, kung paano namin dapat i-handle 'yung game,” he said.
“Masyado talaga kaming relaxed, and for me, wake-up call 'to na itaas pa namin 'yung standard sa game.”
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