COLLEGE of St. Benilde vented its ire on first round tormentor Arellano University for a 100-77 beating to keep hold of the top spot in the NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday.
Gab Cometa took care of business for the Blazers in the continued absence of lead guard Tony Ynot, knocking down 3-of-4 from three-point range for a game-high 23 points, while Justine Sanchez chimed in a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Benilde hiked its record to a league-best 9-2 card, all while avenging its 73-71 loss to the Chiefs last Oct. 4.
Unlike their first meeting when they committed 24 turnovers, the Blazers took care of the ball this time with only 11 errors, the same output as their opponents.
READ: Arellano ambushes error-prone Benilde for another upset win
“It’s something (turnovers) that we’ve been talking about since that loss. I really got on them,” admitted coach Charles Tiu following the game at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
“We just have to do a better job of taking care of the ball. We haven’t been too smart with it. I’d been harping about the turnovers for a week now. I’m glad, finally, we had one game where we had decent turnovers.”
Motivated to get back at Arellano, Benilde turned up the heat right in the opener by racing to a 26-12 lead and never looked back.
The lead was at its biggest at 88-54 in the final quarter.
The Chiefs couldn’t pull off the same upset they previously did, as the Blazers outrebounded them, 60-43; had more assists, 22-13; and had more firepower from the bench, 58-33.
Troy Valencia finished with a game-high 25 points and eight rebounds and Tmc Ongotan had 15 and eight boards for Arellano, which now stands at 3-8 after losing for the second straight game in the second round.
The scores:
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.
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