COLLEGE of St. Benilde turned on the jets late in the fourth quarter to deny San Sebastian an elusive first win 73-66 in the NCAA Season 102 on Monday at the Filoil Center in San Juan.
Trailing for nearly the entire game, the Blazers ended the game on a 14-3 tear as Joshua Cajucom led that rally to frustrate the Stags once more, a team that remains winless in six tries in the tournament.
Cajucom finished with 20 points, five boards and two steals as the Blazers won their third straight game and improve to a Group A best 5-1.
"I have to give credit to San Sebastian. They played really well even at the half court. We expected them to just run and run and they still did, but they executed well even in the half court so we have to give them credit for that," St. Benilde head coach Paolo Layug said.
"I also think our defense wasn't on point especially in the first half. We kind of turned it around in third a little bit and in the fourth quarter thankfully we were able to get stops," he added.
The Stags zoomed to an early 12-4 advantage and pretty much kept the Blazers for most of the game until midway through the fourth quarter where they took control of the game for good.
Cajucom tied the game at 63 with 3:43 remaining before his fellow veterans in Justine Sanchez and Ian Torres put on the finishing touches. Torres' triple with 26 seconds remaining to give the Blazers a 72-66 lead put the game out of reach for good.
Jhomel Ancheta fired 14 points and had three assists for the Blazers while Sanchez turned in another double-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds to go along two steals. Torres chipped in 10.
It was another heartbreaking loss for the Stags who certainly looked different from the squad that took a 30-point beating at the hands of the San Beda Red Lions roughly 48 hours ago, showing renewed grit and confidence in the face of a powerhouse Blazers side.
Christian Ricio led the Stags with 15 points while Kent Bacani added 13.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
