College of Saint Benilde turned the 31-point explosion of Pao Javillonar to garbage after the Blazers posted an 83-78 win over Letran College on Friday in their Season 100 National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament game at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

Amid the Knights’ uprising, Allen Liwag came into the scene and scored on a layup to keep the Blazers at bay with 27.5 ticks to go, 83-75.

Liwag also wound up with 20 points, hauled eight rebounds and issued three assists as the Blazers ramped up their win-loss card to 13-2 and maintain their stranglehold of the top spot.

Deo Cuajao’s success from downtown with 14 seconds to go proved too late as Letran was unable to get possession as time expired.

Without Kevin Santos this time for Letran, Saint Benilde terrorized the paint with 52 points and won the rebounding battle, 46-39.

Blazers head coach Charles Tiu admitted that Letran fought gallantly and it was still a challenge for them to win this game.

“Well we knew we were the bigger teams we knew we had to take care of the glass and pound them in a bit inside but I know Kevin was out we’re also playing a lot of guys who are sick today but they played through it so I tip my hats off,” Tiu said.

“I give credit to Letran. We talked about it the whole week, saying they were already in desperation mode. Pao shot really well his three-point shooting has improved so much so great for him.”

Justine Sanchez scored 16 points, six rebounds, and four assists while Mark Sangco had 11 points, five rebounds, and three assists for Saint Benilde.

Javillonar’s eight-of-11 shooting from the three-point line wasn’t enough as the Knights sank to fifth with a 7-9 slate.

Meanwhile, Lyceum of the Philippines University stayed afloat in the Final Four race after an 82-80 win over Jose Rizal University (JRU) in the first game.

John Barba dropped 20 points, three rebounds, and two assists as the Pirates improved to an 8-8 win-loss record.

McLaude Guadaña sank one of his two free throws with three seconds left in the fourth quarter to close out scoring.

Shawn Argente’s last-second heave fell short as the Heavy Bombers saw their Final Four aspirations go up in smoke.

Joshua Guiab had a near double-double of 27 points, a new career-high, and nine rebounds but JRU slid down to a 4-12 slate.

The scores:

First game

LYCEUM (82) — Barba 20, Villegas 18, Montaño 18, Peñafiel 10, Cunanan 4, Aviles 4, Versoza 4, Guadaña 3, Daileg 1, Moralejo 0, Panelo 0.

JRU (80) — Guiab 27, De Jesus 14, Pangilinan 10, Barrera 9, Raymundo 8, Sarmiento 4, Argente 3, Ferrer 3, Bernardo 2, Mosqueda 0, De Leon 0, Lozano 0, Panapanaan 0, Samontanes 0.

QUARTERS: 23-21, 47-38, 64-61, 82-80.

Second game

SAINT BENILDE (83) — Liwag 20, Sanchez 16, Sangco 11, Ynot 7, Torres 7, Ancheta 7, Eusebio 7, Ondoa 6, Morales 2, Cometa 0, Oli 0, Cajucom 0.

LETRAN (78) — Javillonar 31, Estrada 13, Cuajao 10, Montecillo 9, Miller 6, Nunag 5, Monje 4, Delfino 0, Pradella 0, Jumao-As 0, Dimaano 0.

QUARTERS: 15-27, 47-37, 62-54, 83-78.