IAN Torres willed a depleted College of St. Benilde squad past Mapua as the Blazers to an 82-77 win in the NCAA Season 102, Friday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Torres delivered four clutch triples but none bigger than his last two in the minute which kept the hungry Cardinals at bay despite repeated rallies.
His first three pointer gave the Blazers a 79-74 lead with 59 seconds remaining, before hitting backbreaker, a long-distance dagger to respond to Ivan Lazarte's own trey as the Blazers wrapped up the game for good.
His 15 points and two assists preserved Justine Sanchez's big night on both ends as the forward finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks.
“Siyempre, open lang naman din talaga ako. Create ni Jhomel Ancheta yun eh. Ite-take ko lang talaga yun na parang, siyempre, open. Tas yun, tira ko na lang,” Torres said after his back-to-back triples that doomed the Cardinals to three straight losses.
Torres and Sanchez accounted for the lions share of triples for the Blazers, who shot 42 percent on the game in what was easily their most efficient game of the season so far.
“Well, fortunately for us it was clicking today,” said head coach Paolo Layug. “For the most part, we were trying to punish them. Whatever the coverage was, I think Jhomel, and not only Jhomel, but even our other guys were making extra passes.
“They were making good decisions. That's what we always want to preach to our players and to teach them what to do, how to make good decisions,” he added as Benilde rose to 3-1 without the likes of Matt Jucom, Josh Cajucom, Raffy Celis, and Irele Galas.
Ivan Lazarte’s heroics proved for naught despite finishing with 22 points, six rebounds, and six assists, with nine of those points coming in the fourth quarter alone.
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