MIGUEL Oczon waxed hot in the third period as College of St. Benilde remained unbeaten in the NCAA Season 98 Men’s Basketball Tournament following a 100-94 win over San Sebastian on Friday at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.
Oczon led the Blazers’ torrid 35-point quarter, firing 20 of his 25 points in that stretch as the Blazers turned an eight-point lead at the interval into a commanding 83-62 lead entering the fourth quarter.
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The transferee out of National University drained three triples in the period, where the Blazers led by as many as 25 points before holding off a furious San Sebastian rally.
“He had a lot of free throws and that’s what got him going. He was fouled on a triple shot, then he got another three free throws, so that’s what got him going but for Migs, I’m not surprised at all,” said Blazers assistant coach Paolo Layug, who stepped in after head coach Charles Tiu became unavailable due to an illness.
“He is the hardest working player in our team. He really works out every day, he gets hundreds of shots every day and what he did today, he just trusts the work. He puts in the work, he earns his minutes, he makes shots and that’s why we got him here.”
The Stags, however, didn’t fold easily as heady plays from Rommel Calahat in the final quarter made the game interesting.
Calahat led San Sebastian’s fightback in the final 10 minutes that trimmed a 25-point lead to just five, 99-94, following an Ichie Altamirano lay-up with 62 ticks remaining.
Luckily for the Blazers, the Stags ran out of bullets in the end as they held on to a shaky win to move to 2-0 for the season.
“I think in the fourth quarter we relaxed, we already had a big lead and there’s a tendency when you're up big, you’re thinking the game is gonna be over, you’re just gonna run the clock out but San Sebastian had some stops, we took some bad shots, they were able to run and get some easy lay-ups,” Layug said.
Will Gozum backstopped Oczon’s hot-shooting night with 23 points, four boards and three blocks as Miguel Corteza added 18 markers. JC Cullar also did a stellar job manning the point for the Blazers as he finished with 11 points and six assists.
Calahat finished with 21 points and eight boards while Altamirano added 16 points, three rebounds and three assists for the Stags, who dropped to 1-1.
The scores:
St. Benilde 100 – Oczon 25, Gozum 23, Corteza 18, Cullar 11, Pasturan 8, Nayve 4, Lepalam 4, Carlos 4, Sangco 3, Mara 0, Marcos 0, Flores 0
San Sebastian 94 - Calahat 21, Altamirano 16, Villapando 10, Desoyo 9, Are 8, Sumoda 7, Escobido 5, Shanoda 5, Yambing 5, Una 3, Cosari 2, Suico 2, Felebrico 1, Concha 0
Quarters: 28-20, 46-38, 83-62, 100-94
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