BLAZING COMETA: Saint Benilde crushes Arellano, stays on top

Gab Cometa came off the bench to deliver a career performance and lift College of Saint Benilde to a 100-77 victory over Arellano University in Season 100 National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

The 23-year-old Cometa fired 23 points on a red-hot 10-of-14 field goal shooting to help the Blazers firm up their hold of the lead with nine wins in 11 matches.

Cometa, who laced his hot-shooting day with three three-pointers, a rebound and an assist, said he doesn’t mind playing the role of an energy guy off the bench for the squad billed as the strongest team on paper due to its quality of talent and vast experience.

“I like coming off the bench. I can watch the first game and analyze the things I need to adjust entering the game,” said Cometa, who played like a microwave oven as he needed less than 15 minutes of action to complete his dazzling display of offensive prowess.

“I’m always reminding our guards the changes we need to make.”

Meanwhile, San Sebastian College finally snapped its eight-game losing streak after escaping with an 87-85 win over Jose Rizal University (JRU).

Ameer Aguilar, who had 13 points, sank a step-back three-pointer with 23.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give the Stags an 86-83 lead.

Joshua Guiab then cut the deficit to one, 85-86, after sinking a jumper with 21.4 ticks left.

Aguilar countered, sinking one of his two free throws for a two-point lead with 7.7 seconds remaining, giving the Heavy Bombers one last chance to steal the win.

Unfortunately for JRU, Marvin Raymundo’s triple bounced off the rim as the time expired.

With Cometa entering the game at the final 3:38 mark, the Blazers were able to detonate a 15-0 bomb that transformed a razor-thin 11-10 lead into a 26-10 margin.

Saint Benilde dictated the tempo from there with Joshua Cajucom connecting a layup in the final 5:14 to erect their biggest lead at 34 points, 88-54, en route to the easy victory.

Blazers coach Charles Tiu admitted that they really wanted to bury the Chiefs following their heartbreaking 71-73 loss in the first round.

In fact, he reminded the boys not just to match the firepower and defensive intensity of the dangerous Arellano squad but also to take good care of the ball. In the end, the Blazers registered only 11 turnovers, thanks to their fluid ball movement, torrid shooting and clean offensive executions.

“We talked about that loss. We felt that we should have won in that game but we got careless so they made sure they took care of the ball,” said Tiu, who is getting some insights from their Serbian consultant Rajko Toroman.

The scores:

First game

SAINT BENILDE (100) — Cometa 23, Sanchez 14, Liwag 12, Ancheta 8, Torres 8, Turco 6, Ondoa 6, Oli 5, Morales 4, Carillo 4, Eusebio 3, Sangco 3, Cajucom 2, Jarque 2, Arciaga 0.

ARELLANO (77) — Valencia 25, Ongotan 15, Geronimo 10, Capulong 8, Vinoya 7, Flores 6, Borromeo 2, Miller 2, Camay 2, Espiritu 0, Acop 0, De Leon 0, Libang 0, Abiera 0.

QUARTERS: 26-12, 54-36, 76-49, 100-77.

Second game

SAN SEBASTIAN (87) — Are 28, Escobido 17, Aguilar 13, R. Gabat 11, Felebrico 8, L. Gabat 5, Velasco 2, Ricio 2, Cruz 1, Suico 0, Pascual 0.

JRU (85) — Raymundo 20, Argente 20, Guiab 17, Sarmiento 8, Lozano 7, Barrera 4, Panapanaan 2, Bernardo 2, Pangilinan 2, Garcia 2, De Jesus 1, De Leon 0, Benitez 0, Ferrer 0.

QUARTERS: 28-14, 42-36, 64-56, 87-85.