Diego de la Paz | FCF

(PRESS RELEASE) De La Salle-College of St. Benilde continued to its torrid shooting as it overpowered Lyceum, 86-77, to roll to its fourth straight victory and into the magic four in the 90th National Collegiate Athletic Association seniors basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City on Saturday.

Juan Paolo Taha went perfect from the field by making all of his seven shots including a triple while adding six free throws to finish with a game-high 21 points in helping the Blazers snare their fourth straight win after dropping their first three to join Jose Rizal Bombers at No. 4 on 4-3 (won-lost) records.

San Beda leads the way with a 6-1 slate while Arellano University and Perpetual Help follow suit with a 5-2 and 4-2 mark, respectively.

Team captain Mark Romero got the rest of the job done by finishing with 14 points, five assists, three rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

It was the third time in the last four games that the Blazers (4-3) have reached the 80-point plateau and has averaged 83.25 points in the last four outings that catapulted them from the bottom to the upper half of the standings.

“Ang ganda ng takbo ngayon although we must admit there was a portion in the fourth na medyo naging kampante kami sa bola,” said Benilde head coach Gabby Velasco.

“I think we’re really playing inspired basketball. We’re going to enjoy every game we play even the practices.”

The Pirates (4-4) fell to their second straight defeat and fourth overall in as many setbacks and into sixth spot after lingering inside the top four for a while.