COLLEGE of Saint Benilde (CSB) is blazing new paths in the Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup.
After defeating University of Santo Tomas (UST), 99-87, CSB remained on top of Group B with a 5-0 record at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan on Tuesday.
The Blazers are officially the highest scoring team in the tournament averaging 89.8 points per game. And they too have played the longest match in the tournament thus far with the game needing two hours to complete owing to the 61 fouls called, the two ejections and several near fights that broke out.
After a Marvin Lee triple brought UST close to CSB, 38-36, at the 8:41 mark of the third period, the Blazers blanked the Growling Tigers for over two minutes.
By then, the Blazers led, 45-36; the separation big enough to manage for the rest of the game.
Unfortunately though, it turned chippy real fast as players began trading elbows, taunts, hip checks and well staredowns after big shots.
The third quarter in itself took 32 minutes to complete considering it’s a 10-minute quarter.
Each time CSB threatened to blow out the game, UST came roaring back despite from their clutch shooting. The Blazers posted a high of a 13-point lead, 52-39, after two free throws by Carlo Young.
The closest UST would come was five points after two free throws by Lee made it 64-59 at the 9:10 mark of the fourth period.
The match was ugly, the third such one for CSB in succession. The Blazers’ RR Pagulayan and UST’s Ira Bataller were thrown out for being assessed with two technical fouls.
The Tigers also lost Nat Consejo, Enrique Caunan and Toby Agustin to five fouls. Without Reggie Basibas and Jordan Sta. Ana who have both departed UST for various matters, with Renzo Subido unavailable due to an ankle sprain, and with Steve Akomo and Embons Bonleon not yet in uniform, Head Coach Aldin Ayo was forced to play with an undersized lineup for much of the game.
“We just have to play through this until we get a complete and better lineup,” Ayo pointed out.
Clement Leutcheu tallied a double-double for CSB with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Edward Dixon added 16, while JJ Domingo and Unique Naboa chipped in 14 and 11 points, respectively.
For the Growling Tigers who dropped to 1-5 and out of the play-off contention, Kenneth Zamora led with 22 points including five triples. Zach Huang added 21 points, while Lee and Agustin added 19 and 1 points, respectively.