CHARLES Tiu made clear where his heart is after declaring he’s staying with College of St. Benilde in the NCAA Season 100.
“With Benilde, I think I will probably stay. They haven’t told me otherwise,” Tiu said after the Blazers again fell short of winning the NCAA men’s basketball crown on Saturday following a 2-0 sweep at the hands of the Mapua Cardinals during the Season 100 finals.
“Obviously, it’s quite of disappointing right now. As of now, my mind is still focused on winning one.”
READ: Mapua sweeps Benilde to seize first title since 1991
The 35-year-old made the statement amidst loud talks of him finally leaving the Benilde program after the season to focus on a bigger role at Converge where he is one of the deputy coaches.
But Tiu stressed the goal remains all about helping the Blazers win another championship despite losing in the finals for the second time under his reign.
By next season, Benilde’s title drought will reach its silver jubilee as the school last won the league’s men’s basketball championship in 2000.
“Benilde is kind of like my baby. And I really want to win with this school one way or another,” said Tiu, who is in his fourth season as head coach of the Blazers.
Tiu would like to retain the same core and have another shot at the title by Season 101.
“Hopefully, we can stay with this core again,” said Tiu, while mentioning he’s not exactly certain about the plans of key players Tony Ynot and season MVP Allen Liwag.
“I don’t know their plans, but hopefully, they can stay."
Looking back at the title series, Tiu pointed out pointed out to turnovers as the main issue that hounded his team. The Blazers committed 20 turnovers in Game 2, three less than what they had in the series opening loss.
Overall, they averaged 21.5 turnovers in the title series.
“Those turnovers, it hurts us the whole finals series,” said Tiu.
But he’s not taking the credit away from the Cardinals.
“I don’t know if its jitters or what, we can’t make an excuse. They (Cardinals) have the experience. But if you look at it, it’s more of our bad decisions. But give credit to the defense of Mapua,” added Tiu.
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