CSB tops FEU for Filoil Group B lead

MANILA, Philippines – “Now the other teams will start scouting us.”

Thus bared College of St. Benilde Blazers head coach TY Tang after his side’s impressive 80-73 win over erstwhile undefeated Far Eastern University that thrust his team to the top of Group B of the Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup with a 3-0 record.

The Blazers, previously and perennially underachieving, showed great composure and a mania for execution as they outplayed and outhustled FEU throughout the game.

After both teams traded leads and FEU forged one last deadlock at 59-all following a Prince Orizu dunk off a pass by Richard Escoto, CSB dropped a 9-0 bomb that somewhat took the wind out of the Tamaraws’ sails.

Fil-American rookie Justin Gutang dropped a triple to shatter the deadlock. Point guard Jimbo Pasturan hit a free throw and center Clement Leutcheu faked off two defenders for a reverse lay-up. Gutang capped the seating run with another triple to make it 68-59 with 7:08 to play.

FEU battled hard to come back behind consecutive 3-point bombs by Wendell Comboy and Kenneth Tuffin, but CSB was not to be denied.

The match was chippy all throughout due to spotty officiating, and it seemed to get FEU’s goat. Things boiled over after FEU head coach threw his water bottle on the court in frustration while forward Arvin Tolentino and Gutang engaged in trash talking.

FEU had a chance to overhaul a 76-66 deficit when Comboy hit another three. After a stop, Comboy was fouled by Prince Carlos while taking a 3-point shot, but the veteran FEU guard could only make one of three free throws that would have further cut down 76-70 lead. CSB held on for the final score.

“When we started off, I wrote one word on the board, ‘Bold,’” said Tang. “This was a chance to make a statement against a Final Four team. We wanted to make sure we worked on our composure and execution and I am happy to see that we did just that.”

During their last match against Lyceum, CSB turned the ball over 28 times. Against FEU, they limited their errors to 18 while forcing the Tamaraws to 21 which translated into a whopping 23-8 advantage in turnover points.

Gutang led CSB with 27 points, including two highlight-reel dunks. Clement Leutcheu added 13 while Edward Dixon finished with 12.

For FEU, Tolentino top-scored with 16 points while Comboy added 10.

The scores:

CSB 80 – Gutang 27, Leutcheu 13, Dixon 12, Naboa 9, Haruna 7, Pasturan 5, Domingo 4, Carlos 3, Young 0, Belgica 0, Velasco 0, Pagulayan 0.

FEU – Tolentino 16, Comboy 10, Tuffin 9, Ebona 8, Cani 7, Escoto 5, Bayquin 5, Orizu 4, Parker 3, Inigo 3, Bienes 3, Ramirez 0, Nunag 0, Stockton 0.