Salado came through with 18 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals to lead the Chiefs anew. #NCAA95

KENT Salado (right) of Arellano charges against three College of Saint Benilde defenders during their game Friday. (Contributed photo)

Graduating guard Kent Salado continued his stellar play as Arellano University extended College of Saint Benilde’s miseries with a 75-69 victory Friday in the 95th National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Centre.

With a 4-10 record in eighth spot, the Chiefs, who mathematically can still make it to the Final Four, are looking forward to a strong finish.

“Our goal now is to climb the ranking,” said Arellano coach Cholo Martin, whose wards pushed the Blazers to their seventh loss in 13 games to fall to .500 for the first time this season.

Salado came through with 18 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals to lead the Chiefs anew.

Rookie transferees Gelo Sablan and Justin Arana also shone for Arellano, which won for the second time in the last three matches.

Sablan had 14 points, six boards and three assists while Arana put up double-double numbers of 13 points and 10 rebounds to go with five blocks.

Justin Gutang had 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while Kendrix Belgica added 13 points and five boards for Saint Benilde, which went ice-cold after opening the season with five straight wins.

In the juniors division, Arellano nipped La Salle Greenhills, 70-67, for a 8-6 mark, while San Sebastian overpowered Emilio Aguinaldo College, 95-77, to rise up the ranking with a 7-6 win-loss card.