TURNOVERS basically did it for College of St. Benilde in its Game 1 loss to Mapua during the NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball finals on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Coach Charles Tiu made things as simple as possible, pointing out to the 23 turnovers committed by the Blazers compared to the 11 by the Cardinals.
The discrepancy led to a 34-6 advantage by Mapua in points off turnovers that made up the backbone of its 84-73 wire-to-wire win.
READ: Red-hot Escamis shoots Mapua over Benilde in Game One
The Cardinals, as a team, finished with 19 steals led by Clint Escamis' five.
“We threw the ball away. We looked like we were passing the ball to Mapua, which I don’t understand. We’re not going to win a game where you give up 23 turnovers and 34 turnover points,” said Tiu after emerging from the St. Benilde dugout.
“Basically, we gave them the game.”
Marc Sangco and Justine Sanchez accounted for more than half of the Blazers’ total turnovers with 12 combined, while favored MVP winner Allen Liwag had four and Jhomel Ancheta with three.
Tiu also believed playing in such a big moment like the finals got the better end of the Blazers.
Sangco is the only remaining remnant of the Benilde team that reached the finals in Season 98, but lost to Letran in the deciding Game 3.
“A hundred percent, a lot of guys were nervous. They looked nervous. It’s part of being in the finals for the first time,” said Tiu.
“All these guys are newbies in the finals. Kahit anong sabihin mo, ibang level pa rin yun.”
The younger brother of former PBA player Chris Tiu said the five-day break leading to Game 2 on Saturday would help the Blazers settle down and get back into the business.
“We got to find a way to do better. We just got to make sure we stay focus and don’t let the big moment get to the players because definitely that’s probably the problem for us,” added Tiu.
The Blazers will certainly be looking to stay alive and extend the best-of-three series to a deciding winner-take-all as they eye to end a 24-year championship drought.
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