Blazers win anew sans Liwag, disarm Bombers

Games Tuesday

(Filoil EcoOil Arena)

8:30 a.m. – LPU vs AU (JRS/SRS)

2:30 p.m. – San Beda vs EAC (SRS/JRS)

MANILA, Philippines — College of St. Benilde survived the absence of reigning MVP Allen Liwag for the second straight game after it repulsed upset-conscious Jose Rizal University, 73-65, to seize the solo Group B lead in NCAA Season 101 at the Filoil EcoOil Arena in San Juan.

Raffy Celis and Justine Sanchez filled in the massive void left by Liwag, who remained out due to flu-like symptoms, in helping propel the Blazers to their third straight victory in four starts and straight to No. 1 in the second bracket.

The Celis-Sanchez pair took turns in scoring their team’s final eight points with three minutes to go that quashed the last hope of the Bombers to turn things around in their favor while sealing the runners up a season ago the win.

Celis ended up firing a game-high 20 points with five rebounds and four steals while Sanchez had 17 points, six rebounds and five assists.

“We weathered the storm,” said CSB coach Charles Tiu.

JRU, which came into the showdown a few days after shell-shocking San Beda, 67-66, almost pulled off another upset after roaring back from a deficit as high as 11 points at the half and cutting it to just two points, 65-63, on three foul shots by Sean Salvador with 2.52 minutes to go.

But it proved to be the Nani Epondulan-mentored Bombers’ last show of resistance as Celis and Sanchez each scored four points in that decisive 8-2 run.

JRU fell to 2-2 but not without receiving heaps of praise from Tiu.

“Give credit to JRU. They’re a really good team and they play so hard. Those kids are young but man, they’re legit,” said Tiu.

The scores:

CSB 73 – Celis 20, Sanchez 17, Morales 7, Ancheta 5, Umali 5, Moore 5, Oli 5, Gaspay 3, Eusebio 2, Cajucom 2, Ynot 1, Galas 1, Jalalon 0.

JRU 65 – Salvador 13, Peñaverde 11, Argente 9, Lozano 9, Benitez 7, Panapanaan 5, Laurenaria 5, Garupil 4, Herrera 2, Duque 0, Castillo 0, Sarmiento 0.

Quartescores: 22-19; 42-34; 55-51; 73-65

• Latest
• Trending