LYCEUM of the Philippines University quashed the life out of a hapless College of St. Benilde with a 98-55 rout yesterday to extend its amazing streak to five in the 93rd NCAA basketball tournament at the Filoil Arena in San Juan City.
It was over as early as the second quarter when the Pirates dominated the Blazers, 31-10, to turn a 16-11 first quarter lead to a huge 47-21 advantage at the break.
LPU never relented from there and led by as much as 46 points, 91-45, on a basket by CJ Perez with a little over three minutes remaining in the game.
The 43-point winning margin was also the highest this season.
And it was caused mainly by LPU’s full-court pressure that forced St. Benilde to turn the ball over a season-worst 40 times, resulting in a season-high 46 points off it including 26 off fastbreaks, also a season-best.
“We made crucial stops, we just play as hard as we can,” said LPU coach Topex Robinson.
St. Benilde’s 40 errors was also the worst since San Sebastian committed 43 in a 76-82 defeat to Letran two years ago.
Robinson later said it was payback for losing to St. Benilde, 61-65, last year.
It turned out that the one defeat was the Blazers’ first after 17 straight defeats.
“We remembered the time they (St. Benilde) beat us last year, they were 1-17 then they beat us, thats the motivation for us,” said Robinson.
The Blazers fell to their third defeat against a lone win.
In the second game, Letran went to Rey Nambatac in the fourth quarter to eke out an 82-75 win against Arellano University and improve to a 2-3 slate.
Nambatac, playing in his final season, scored 15 points including 10 in the final period to help the Knights seal the win.
Jeo Ambohot, a 6’6” former volleyball player from Compostella Valley, had 15 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks against his old team, while Jeremiah Taladua, a transferee from LPU, had 13 points and 11 caroms.
The Chiefs skidded to 2-3.
The Scores:
LPU 98 – Marcelino JC 17, Baltazar 16, Perez 14, Pretta 10, Tansingco 9, Marcelino JV 7, Nzeusseu 6, Caduyac 6, Marata 4, Ayaay 4, Santos 4, Serrano 1, Ibanez 0, Liwag 0
St. Benilde 55 – Naboa 14, Leutcheu 7, Belgica 7, Johnson 6, San Juan 4, Bunyi 4, Young 3, Domingo 3, Pili 3, Castor 2, Suarez 2, Dixon 0, Sta. Maria 0, Mercado 0, Velasco 0
QUARTER SCORES: 16-11, 47-21, 68-34, 98-55
Second Game
LETRAN 82 – Ambohot 15, Nambatac 15, Taladua 13, Balanza 12, Calvo 9, Quinto 8, Balagasay 4, Pascual 4, Mandreza 2, Bernabe 0, Caralipio 0, Gedaria 0
ARELLANO 75 – Flores 17, Salado 15, Canete 12, Enriquez 10, Alcoriza 8, Concepcion 5, Dela Cruz 3, Nicholls 3, Taywan 2, Meca 0, Ongolo-Ongolo 0, Abanes 0, Padilla 0, Rivera 0
QUARTER SCORES: 18-25, 46-38, 57-58, 82-75
Games tomorrow (Aug. 3)
2 p.m.- Letran vs St. Benilde (jrs)
4 p.m.- Letran vs St. Benilde (srs)