ARELLANO University survived College of Saint Benilde’s three-point shooting spree to eke out an 86-82 victory on Tuesday and stay in the top 4 of the 91st National Collegiate Athletic Association seniors basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.
Jio Jalalon, Dioncee Holts and Allen Enriquez took charge in the fourth quarter, combining for 24 of their team’s 31 points in the period to help the Chiefs escape with their seventh victory against four losses.
Jalalon finished with 20 points he iced with six rebounds and nine assists, while Holts and Enriquez had 15 and 14 points, respectively, for Arellano University which overcame a league-best 15 three-pointers by the Blazers.
“We just threw away the scouting report that they couldn’t shoot threes and just played hard,” Arellano University Coach Jerry Codiñera said.
The victory also soothed the pain the Chiefs endured from a heartbreaking 112-114 double overtime defeat to the Jose Rizal University Bombers last Thursday.
Jonathan Grey returned from being benched during College of Saint Benilde’s last game by exploding with a game-high 22 points. But he couldn’t hit the baskets when his team needed them most, as the Blazers fell to their ninth defeat against two wins.
The Blazers went on attack mode early and roared to a 10-0 start. But the Chiefs caught up and seized a 38-37 lead at the break with Filipino-Canadian Zach Nicholls waxing hot from beyond the arc.
After shooting six triples, the Blazers buried nine in the second half and were in command entering the fourth.
And then Jalalon, Holts and Enriquez took charge.
In juniors’ action, Lyceum dumped Perpetual Help, 88-74, to improve to 8-3 and College of Saint Benilde downed Arellano University, 80-67, to improve to 6-5.