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Last season, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde learned a huge lesson in closing out games. In their last two games, they have finally found a way to apply those learnings.
The Blazers, behind the career game of forward Mark Romero, pulled off a masterful 79-72 victory over Mapúa Institute of Technology in the 90th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) seniors basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City on Friday.
On the other hand, Lyceum of the Philippines University improves to 4-2 for the season, scoring a 73-67 win over the struggling Emilio Aguinaldo College in the second game.
Wilson Baltazar got out of his funk, scoring a season-best 20 points on 7-for-17 shooting with eight rebounds. Guard Dexter Zamora added 15 points, with Joseph Gabayni following through on his consistent play with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocked shots.
Down by 18 in the third period, the Cardinals quietly climbed back into contention on the strength of Leo Gabo’s 10 second half points, combined with the hustle plays from a returning Joseph Eriobu, who missed their last two games due to a hyperextended left knee.
But as quickly as they cut down their deficit and took over the game with a slim one point advantage, Mapúa squandered their chance at getting their first win in six contests with matador defense on the aggressive duo of Romero and Jonathan Grey, who scored a combined 12 of the last 14 points by the Blazers to close out the contest.
Romero, Benilde’s co-captain, tallied 26 points on an impressive 12-for-16 field goals, besting his previous high of 25 in their 90-89 overtime defeat at the hands of University of Perpetual Help last August 26, 2013. Grey, on his part, added 17 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
Benilde Head Coach Gabby Velasco, who said that his squad did not do well in the pre-game preparations days leading to the game, noted that his players failed to follow through on their game plan when they couldn’t convert on the offensive end.
“Our problem there was our execution. The moment we force our shots, we don’t run anything offensively. I saw it as early as the first quarter that everytime na hindi namin ma-run offensively ‘yung plays, they [Mapúa] get layups. We cannot go one-on-one, we cannot go [on] individual [plays] for our other guys, but we have to go to our open man,” said the second-year mentor Velasco.
“What we want to do this year was to apply what we learned, what we experienced [last season]. In the first couple of games, there was still ‘yung sakit namin from last year na nagcocollapse [at] hindi kami makapagfocus. Hopefully, as we progress, maiapply namin what we have learned from our previous games,” he added.
Mapúa Head Coach Atoy Co, who resigned to the fact that he does not have a strong team on paper, said that he is still satisfied that his wards played with heart during the contest – but still pointed out that his young turks has yet to mature during crunch time situations.
“Nakalamang kami ng sandaling-sandali lang. Pero kung nadepensahan namin ng maayos ang Benilde, baka nagbago ang kulay ng laro. Sinabi ko sa mga players, dahil lang lumamang tayo nawala ang focus natin. Dapat sa ganung sitwasyon, mas lalong nag-focus tayo. ‘Yung mindset namin dapat may killer’s instinct, pero wala ‘nun,” said Co.
Sophomore guard Gabo finished with a career-best 16 points during the second half, with Jessie Saitanan and CJ Isit adding 14 apiece for the Cardinals. They remain as the lone team without a win this tournament after six matches.
