Cover Photo By Andrea Vicencio
Cover Photo By Andrea Vicencio.

Blazers close out elimination round with loss v.s. Red Lions


The Blazers finished their elimination round with a 5-4 win-loss record in the #NCAASeason97.


By Rdee De La Paz | Tuesday, 26 April 2022

The De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) Blazers bowed to the San Beda University (SBU) Red Lions in their final game for the elimination round of the NCAA Season 97 earlier today, April 26, at the Saint Benilde Gym in La Salle Greenhills. 

The Blazers started the quarter with a strong offense led by the backcourt duo of Will Gozum and Ladis Lepalam who contributed a combined nine points. Despite keeping the Red Lions scoreless for three minutes, the Blazers were unable to keep their lead by the end of the quarter, 13-16.

Entering the second quarter, the Red Lions continued to dominate the Blazers’ defense, stretching their lead to seven. Meanwhile, stalwart Robi Nayve was able to sink two shots from beyond the arc, ending the Blazers’ scoring drought. With back-to-back tirades from San Beda, the Blazers trailed until the end of the half, 27-37.

The Blazers continued to trail in the third canto, with AJ Benson, along with top scorers Nayve and Gozum, attempting to reignite the offensive end. With difficulties in converting opportunities for the Taft squad, the Red Lions were able to capitalize and extend their lead to 13 points by the end of the quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, team captain JC Cullar led the charge for the trailing Blazers with five points. With aggressive defense, the boys in green and white were able to limit San Beda’s quarter score to six. With two minutes left in the last quarter, Ray Carlos was able to sink another three, while Lepalam’s basket off the paint allowed the Blazers to tie the game at 63-63. 

With only 52 seconds left, James Kwekuteye’s three-pointer gave the Red Lions the breakaway lead. Trailing by three, Nayve was able to draw a foul on his three-point attempt but was unable to convert the free throws, giving the Red Lions the win, 63-67.

The Blazers are currently in fourth place and are qualified to compete in the play-in for the third and fourth seed of the semi-finals starting Sunday, May 1, in the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.  

Box Scores:

DLS-CSB (63) : Nayve 14, Lepalam 12, Cullar 10, Gozum 10, Carlos 9, Benson 6, Publico 2, Lim 0, Flores 0, Marcos 0, Sangco 0, Corteza 0, Tateishi 0.

SBU (67) : Kwekuteye 13, Cortez 7, Bahio 6, Peneula 6, Jopia 6, Ynot 6, Cuntapay 6, Cometa 5, Andrada 5, Abuda 4, Gallego 2, Alfaro 1, Amsali 0, Viser 0. 

Quarter Scores: 13-16, 27-37, 44-57, 63-67