20 July 2018
By Maxine Louise Lagman
Manila, Philippines – The College of St. Benilde braved the flooded streets of Taft to regain their standing in the NCAA Season 94 senior’s basketball tournament in a stunning match against Mapua University, 90-79, Friday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
The Blazers had a hard time coming to the game due to the continuous downpour of rain that flooded the streets of Taft Avenue and left some of the players stranded in their dormitories.
“We had a coaster and they said they couldn’t pick us up, because the flood was knee-level, so we had no choice. We had to take a pedicab,” said YankieHaruna.
Luckily, they managed to get to the game venue and win against the Cardinals to collect a 1-1 win-loss record.
CSB was off to a hot start and capped the first half with a comfortable cushion of seven points, 43-36, and showed no sign of slowing down until the last quarter.
Though they were able to catch up to the Blazers and put the game on 71-all dreadlock in the fourth, the Cardinals were shut down by Benilde’s collective team effort.
Jimboy Pasturan shot a corner triple that sparked a 17-0 run for the Blazers in the last seven minutes of the game and was capped off by a Harunalay up, sealing their first win in the tournament.
Haruna came back stronger this season after suffering from a shoulder injury last year and led the Blazers with 19 points and four rebounds.
Rookie Justin Gutang played his best and chipped in 17 points, 10 assists and three boards for the win.
Justine Serrano and Noah Lugo, on the other hand, scored 14 points apiece for the Cardinals.
The Scores:
CSB 90 – Haruna 19, Gutang 17, Dixon 13, Leutcheu 8, Pasturan 8, Naboa 6, Domingo 6, Carlos 5, Young 5, Nayve 3, Barnes 0, Velasco 0.
MAPUA 79 – Serrano 14, Lugo 14, Bunag 11, Pelayo 8, Bonifacio 8, Jabel 8, Victoria 6, Aguirre 6, Gamboa 3, Salenga 1, Biteng 0, Pajarillo 0.
Quarter scores: 15-15, 43-36, 61-59, 90-79.
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