ST. Benilde shook off its first half woes and outlasted San Beda in a thriller, 82-73, to lock up a top two seed in the NCAA Season 98 seniors basketball tournament on Tuesday at Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Mark Sangco kept the Blazers afloat with a career-best 19 points, 12 rebounds, and two steals, helping his side get back from a 51-42 halftime deficit and as much as a 13-point deficit in the first half.
CSB's win, which hiked its standing to 14-4, puts it in an idle position depending on the result of the Letran-Jose Rizal University game on Wednesday.
A win for the Knights mean that they will get the top seed, while a loss would hand the Blazers the no. 1-seed, both armed with twice-to-beat advantages.
The top seed will face San Beda, which dropped to no. 4, while no. 3 Lyceum will meet the second-seed.
The Final Four starts on Nov. 29.
CSB got its act together in the third quarter, unloading 21 in the frame with Will Gozum's fastbreak giving the school its first lead at 59-58 at the 2:54 mark.
It went on and staged an 11-2 blitz to open the payoff period to grab the 12-point lead, 74-62, with 7:40 left to play after Miggy Corteza's three.
Corteza bucked a sprained ankle incurred late in the second quarter and put up 15 points and four boards to stretch their win streak to four.
Gozum, the MVP frontrunner, also atoned for his sorry first half and still churned a double-double of 15 points, 10 rebounds, and two blocks, including the game-sealing rejection on Justine Sanchez in the final minute.
Jimboy Pasturan chimed in 13 points, six assists, and two boards, as Migs Oczon also had nine points and 10 rebounds despite missing all of his six shots from deep.
"I challenged them defensively. We asked them to play some defense. We made some adjustments defensively to find a way to slow down San Beda and it showed," said coach Charles Tiu, with the Blazers limiting the Red Lions to just 22 points in the second half.
JB Bahio anchored the Red Lions with a double-double of 18 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks in the defeat that ended their three-game win run.
James Kwekuteye also had 18 points, six assists, and three boards but was held to a solitary point in the second half before suffering from cramps in the fourth quarter.
The Scores:
CSB 82 -- Sangco 19, Gozum 15, Corteza 15, Pasturan 13, Oczon 9, Carlos 5, Cullar 2, Nayve 2, Lepalam 2, Marcos 0, Davis 0.
SAN BEDA 73 -- Bahio 18, Kwekuteye 18, Cometa 12, Andrada 6, Cortez 6, Ynot 4, Alfaro 4, Cuntapay 3, Sanchez 2, Visser 0.
Quarters: 26-26, 42-51, 63-60, 82-73.
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