Ian Torres spiked a decisive 18-0 salvo in the third quarter to power College of Saint Benilde to an emphatic 80-65 victory over Jose Rizal University (JRU) on Sunday in their Season 100 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament game at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
It was the fourth consecutive win by the league-leading Blazers, who now have a 10-2 win-loss card, while the loss saw the Heavy Bombers sink to a 3-9 mark.
Saint Benilde head coach Charles Tiu said all they did was stay focused against a Heavy Bombers side that can give them close games if left unchecked.
“We just played every team the same way in the NCAA. JRU is a tough team and they had some close losses,” Tiu said as he drew 16 points from Torres.
“We just made sure to focus on ourselves and thankfully we played pretty well,” added the multi-awarded coach.
Torres’ layup with 4:46 in the third frame capped an 18-0 run for Saint Benilde that gave the Taft-based squad a 60-35 lead.
The Blazers’ lead even snowballed to as high as 33 points, 73-40, after Torres drained a triple with 9:15 in the fourth quarter.
Saint Benilde led in bench points, 43-27, as Tiu praised Torres for stepping up from the bench.
“We really wanted someone to step up today and today, Ian scored for us. It’s good for him but we still want a consistent game from everybody,” Tiu said.
Allen Liwag had a double-double performance of 12 points and 11 rebounds while Justine Sanchez dropped 10 points and two assists for Saint Benilde.
Joshua Guiab scored 13 points as JRU joined San Sebastian College at the bottom of the standings.
Meanwhile, Mapua University also got its 10th win of the season after a close 58-55 victory over San Beda University.
Chris Hubilla flirted with a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds as the Cardinals posted their fourth straight win for a 10-3 mark.
Already ahead, 57-51, with 11 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Menard Songcuya and Bryan Sajonia tried to pump some life back into the Red Lions with a 4-0 run to close the gap at two.
But a foul on Sajonia with two ticks left gave Mapua a chance to extend the lead as Marc Cuenco sank one of his two free throws.
Jomel Puno’s three-point attempt in the dying seconds of the game fell short as San Beda sank to an 8-5 record for third place.
The scores:
First game
SAINT BENILDE (80) — Torres 16, Liwag 12, Sanchez 10, Ancheta 9, Eusebio 9, Oli 6, Cajucom 5, Cometa 4, Ondoa 4, Serrano 2, Turco 2, Morales 1, Sangco 0, Jarque 0, Galas 0.
JRU (65) — Guiab 17, Argente 14, Raymundo 13, Pangilinan 8, De Leon 4, Bernardo 4, Mosqueda 3, Lozano 2, Samontanes 0, Panapanaan 0, Sarmiento 0, Ferrer 0.
QUARTERS: 21-16, 42-33, 68-40, 80-65.
Second game
MAPUA (58) — Hubilla 17, Cuenco 11, Escamis 7, Abdulla 5, Recto 4, Mangubat 4, Jabonete 4, Concepcion 3, Igliane 3, Bancale 0, Fermin 0.
SAN BEDA (55) — Sajonia 12, Puno 11, Andrada 9, Estacio 6, Songcuya 6, Lina 6, Payosing 3, Tagle 2, Royo 0, Calimag 0, Bonzalida 0.
QUARTERS: 16-12, 32-23, 46-40, 58-55.