Bombers trip Blazers, catch Stags at helm

MANILA, Philippines - Jose Rizal U clamped down on defense in the fourth quarter and erased a 14-point deficit, hacking out a dramatic 77-72 victory over St. Benilde to remain tied with San Sebastian in the lead in the 88th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City late Monday.

Trailing by 14, 49-63, at the onset of the fourth and 10 points, 59-69, halfway through the period, the Bombers held the Blazers to just three points in the last five minutes with their pressing defense, scoring the bulk of their 28-point burst off turnovers.

The JRU-St. Benilde game ended way past 10 p.m. after a two-hour delay as arena personnel had to fix the ring shattered by Calvin Abueva’s power dunks during the pre-game warmup against Emilio Aguinaldo College.

The come-from-behind win thus gave the Kalentong-based school its sixth victory against a defeat, keeping it in step with San Sebastian, which earlier had to survive a charging EAC side, 94-93.

“We were trying to outscore them from the start but it backfired so I reminded them that we could only beat this team with our defense,” said Jose Rizal coach Vergel Meneses. “I’m glad it worked.”

Nate Matute did most of the job in the first half, scoring 19 of his 22 points as the Bombers turned a 16-23 first quarter deficit into a 40-37 lead at the break.

But the Blazers neutralized Matute with their own double-teaming defense and the rest of the Bombers struggled, enabling the Blazers to pile up points after points before posting a 63-49 bulge on a stirring 26-9 run in the third period.

But just when St. Benilde had appeared headed for a runaway win, Jose Rizal U fought back to cut the deficit to 59-69 then went to its defense to force a series of turnovers and stops to anchor their stirring come-from-behind victory.

The Blazers, who were led by Mark Romero’s 18 points, fell to their fifth setback against three wins.

Meanwhile, SSC’s top gun Calvin Abueva, was named the Accel/316 NCAA Press Corps Player of the Week presented by Gatorade for his superb all-around game against EAC.

With Ian Sangalang out with injury, Abueva stepped up his game and fired 29 points, including three crucial free throws that secured the win for the Stags. He also hauled down 18 rebounds and made seven assists. 

The scores:

Jose Rizal 77 – Matute 22, Carampil 14, Villarias 12, Lopez 7, Almario 6, Diapera 6, Camasura 4, Mabulac 4, Mendoza 2, Dela Paz 0, Salaveria 0

St. Benilde 72 – Romero 18, Tolentino 13, Lastimosa 13, Grey 8, Taha 6, Sinco 5, Deles 4, Maconocido 3, Bartolo 2, Garcia 0, Ongteco 0, Tan 0, Altamirano 0

Quarterscores: 16-23, 40-37, 49-63, 77-72