Blazers buck flat start to turn back Stags
Games Tuesday
FilOil Center
10 a.m. — AU vs JRU (juniors)
12 p.m. — EAC vs Mapua (juniors)
3 p.m. — AU VS JRU (seniors)
5 p.m — EAC vs Mapua (seniors)
MANILA, Philippines — An atrocious start forced St. Benilde coach Paolo Layug to sound the alarm.
The Blazers responded by dominating the second half and snatching a come-from-behind 73-66 victory Monday over the luckless San Sebastian Stags in NCAA Season 102 at the FilOil Center in San Juan City.
It was CSB’s fifth victory in six starts that solidified its grip on the Group A lead.
And that was because the Blazers answered Layug’s wakeup call.
“Nung halftime, sinabihan kami nila coach kulang kami ng effort sa first half,” said CSB’s sweet-shooting guard Alaine Cajucom, who had one of his best performances in his career with 20 points.
“Bumawi lang kami sa second half, gusto lang talaga namin Manalo ngayong game,” he added.
The Stags dropped to 0-6 in Group B.
But SSC-R was far from the underdog on this one, at least in the first half when it took a 38-29 lead.
CSB came into the second half a different team and unleashed a series of runs, cutting its nine-point deficit to just three at the end of the third quarter and eventually overtook SSC-R with a decisive run in the final canto.
Cajucom happened to be at the center of it all as he dropped eight of his total points in that period.
For Layug, it was defense that spelled the biggest difference.
“Our defense wasn’t on point in the first half. Thankfully, we were able to get stops in the third and fourth quarters,” he said.
The scores:
CSB 73 — Cajucom 20, Ancheta 14, Sanchez 12, Torres 10, Moralez 7, Jarque 4, Lorenzo 2, Moore 2, Arciaga 2, Baliquig 0, Daja 0
SSC R 66 — Ricio 15, Bacani 13, Gabat 12, Alforque 9, Velasco 5, Castor 5, Muktimar 3, Cuya 2, Ynot 2, Barroga 0, Kitane 0
Quarterscores: 13-20; 29-38; 51-54; 73-66
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