LIKE most of the people following the NCAA Season 101, St. Benilde coach Charles Tiu was caught by surprise with who they’ll be facing come the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The Blazers finished with a 9-4 record to end up as the second seed in Group B, the so-called ‘Group of Death’ of the tournament, but the reward for clawing through the tough group is an early finals rematch with the defending champion Mapua who finished in third of Group A.
READ: CSB - Mapua rematch goes early with NCAA playoff picture clear
“Definitely. To be honest I really thought we’d play Arellano,” Tiu said when asked if he was surprised to meet Mapua this early.
The Cardinals dropping to third place in their group was certainly caused by a lot of factors.
First, of course was Mapua’s inconsistent play all throughout the tournament which coincided with the late surge of Arellano which saw the Chiefs finish the tournament with a a four-game winning streak.
But even if things ended that way, the Cardinals were still technically the twice-to-beat holders up until the final 15 seconds of the game when all Mapua had to do was hold onto to the ball, let the clock run out and give the Chiefs the two point win – still enough for them to hold on to the incentive by virtue of having the superior point differential in their head-to-head match-up.
But the worse came to worst for the Cardinals as they turned the ball over and fouled T-Mc Ongotan who calmly drained two foul shots to give the Chiefs a four-point lead and eventually the twice-to-beat advantage.
“If you look at the schedule, the way things were playing out, you’d have thought Perpetual would’ve won [against Arellano] but they’re also in a bit of a funk,” Tiu explained.
“Mapua also had a chance to beat Arellano, they only had to hold the ball in the last 15 seconds but the worst thing happened.”
Tiu, however, clarified that he’s not minimizing Arellano’s capabilities.
“As it is, Arellano made it to the top two but give credit to Arellano, they’ve had a really good year, they’re a really good defensive team. Whoever we play it would’ve been a tough match-up for us naman e.”
He also admitted that he would’ve wanted to avoid Mapua until later in the tournament – knowing that defending champions will always be tough to handle, twice-to-beat advantage or not.
But he also knows that they’re gonna have to deal with them one way or another, and now it’s all about playing to their true potential come the quarterfinals.
“Obviously, I’m not gonna lie Mapua is the defending champion, so if you can avoid them completely which we might have it would’ve been better but that’s part of the game," he said.
"As I’ve said, if we want to be champions we have to go through the champions, otherwise maybe we’re not deserving. No excuses, we have to face the best teams if we want to win,” he added.
“It’s an up-and-down season for them but I’ve always felt that it’s just a matter of time. When they want to turn it on they’re still a great great team. But I hope their a-game won’t show up on Wednesday because it’s a tough match-up for us.”
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