Sunday punch keys Blazers win over Stags

College of St. Benilde continued its domination of defending champion San Sebastian College, eking out a 74-72 victory yesterday to seize the solo lead in the 78th NCAA basketball tournament at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Jan Coching hit a driving layup with 4.1 seconds left in the contest as the Blazers, the 2000 champions, outscored the fancied Stags in the final three minutes of play.

While it was Coching who delivered the clincher, it was the high-leaping Sunday Salvacion who started it all for St. Benilde.

Salvacion ignited a series of runs connecting the second and third quarters as the Blazers rallied from a 24-36 deficit to a 54-52 lead going into the final 10 minutes of the match.

Salvacion then struck 10 of his 26 points in the fourth period including four of St. Benilde’s last nine points for the win.

It was the Stags’ first loss in two games.

Meanwhile, University of Perpetual Help showed it could win games even without its superstars after it tripped host San Beda College in overtime, 79-77, in the other senior game to barge into the win column.

Marcel Cuenco scored six of his team-high 20 points in extra period including the game-winning putback in the dying seconds to give the Altas their first win in two outings and more importantly, the confidence to hack it out with the opposition even without last season’s stars Chester Tolomia and Gilbert Malabanan. The two have turned pro.

Erwin Velasco hit a three-pointer that tied the count at 77-all. The Altas’ Ronald Hawkins fired a jumper at the right corner that bounced off the ring, but luckily for UPHR, Cuenco positioned well and controlled the rebound before hitting the clincher as time expired.

"Last year, we had the talents but the setback is that we relied heavily on them," said UPHR coach Bay Cristobal.

"This year, we don’t have any superstars but we are playing as a team."

San Beda had several chances of stealing the win after rallying from as many as 12 points down but missed three crucial free throws in regulation and five in overtime for its second straight defeat. The Red Lions lost to the Letran Knights, 69-64, in Saturday’s opener.

Meanwhile, San Beda lived up to its top billing, toying with a hapless UPHR side, 162-50, in the junior setto..

Jefferson Aghayani torched the Altalettes with 38 points as the Red Cubs pulled off a second straight win two days after bringing down the Letran Squires, the reigning champions, with a 83-76 decision.