Blazers stop skid

College of St. Benilde (CSB) snapped a two-game slide after beating Jose Rizal University (JRU), 74-66, to move to second spot in Season 95 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the FilOil Arena.

Justin Gutang led the Blazers’ balanced attack with 14 points to go along with his eight rebounds as CSB survived the contest without its head coach TY Tang, who served a one-game suspension handed out by the league.

Carlo Young added 13 markers while Edward Dixon contributed 10 including a crucial tip and two free throws in the closing minute to put away the spirited rally of the Heavy Bombers.

Agem Miranda led JRU with 20 points while John Amores and Marq Dionisio chipped in 14 and 13 markers, respectively, for the Heavy Bombers who finished their first-round campaign with a 3-6 mark.

Aside from Tang, the Blazers also played without one of their key players in Jimboy Pasturan, who was declared out for the season because of a dislocated shoulder.

Behind Gutang, the wards of assistant coach Charles Tiu managed to control the tempo of the game and led at 65-59 with 1:25 left.

Amores’ three-point attempt was way off the target and Dixon had a huge putback off the missed drive of Gutang to give the Blazers a 67-59 cushion with 59.7 seconds left.