The De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) tied the finals series after defeating the defending champions Colegio de San Juan de Letran (CSJL) Knights, 76–71, today, Dec. 11, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Blazers started slow in the first frame with Letran’s big man Louie Sangalang opening the game, but was immediately answered by NCAA Season 98’s MVP Will Gozum with a shot from beyond the arc, 3-2. The crowd went wild when the two Miguels entered the game: Miguel Corteza and Miguel Oczon. Corteza immediately threw in four points as soon as he entered the game, while Oczon returns as a heated scoring machine putting up a double triple in his first minutes in, 17-19. Ray Carlos posted his first three to cut the deficit by one, 20-21, but Muralla squad’s Kurt Reyson ended the quarter to keep it back up by at least two, 20-23.
The defending champions showed composure by making a 0-9 run against the Taft squad. But Robi Nayve stopped them from there and created a 5-0 run with MVP Gozum and Mark Sangco, 25-32. The Knights’ team captain Fran Yu was only able to chip in six points from the first frame before getting ejected from the game in the second quarter after a disqualifying foul against Mark Sangco. And with Letran losing another player, their team pushed to step up by ending the first half in favor of the Knights, 34-45.
With more determination for the throne, Corteza erupted for the Blazers with five big points in the first two minutes of the second half, 42-45, forcing the Knights to call for a timeout. The big man continued leading the team as he contributed 14 of the 30 total points from the team in the third frame ending the quarter up by five, 64-59.
The last frame was tight knit as Benilde and Letran tried to bring the lead back to their respective teams. The Knights, led by King Caralipio and Brent Paraiso, even made a 4-0 run before Nayve and Oczon started scoring for the team, 69-65. Sangalang and Caralipio created deadlocks in hopes of claiming themselves as Champions, 71-71. But Gozum did not let that happen and the game ended with a dagger from Oczon, 75-71. Jimboy Pasturan made a charity shot after Reyson fouled him with a penalty, 76-71.
Corteza was hailed as the Player of the Game after posting a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Gozum also posted 21 points, with Oczon and Nayve also chipping double digits of 15 and 10 respectively.
“They (Letran) want you to get your head out of the game. Pero ‘yung sabi lang sa’min, [na] ‘yung adjustment namin is to not pay attention sa mga side tactics nila, physicalities,” Corteza said about their improvement in today’s win.
“We still have to get back to work. And hopefully we can be mentally tough because they’re going to bring their all again, and we just have to be ready again.” Coach Charles Tiu mentioned, keeping the momentum by Game 3.
2002 NCAA MVP Sunday Salvacion graced the crucial game by supporting the Blazers. In an exclusive interview with The Benildean, he commended Coach Tiu’s system.
“Sinasabi ko nga do’n sa mga bata, na sumunod lang sa sistema ni Coach. [...] At saka dapat sama-sama as a team.” He even mentioned that “makuha lang natin ito (Game 2), maniwala kayo sa ‘kin, atin ‘yong Game 3.”
The Blazers will be facing a do-or-die game vs the defending champions on Sunday, Dec. 18, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo with a live telecast on NCAA Philippines’ Youtube and Facebook page.
Box Scores:
DLS-CSB (76): Corteza 21, Gozum 21, Oczon 15, Nayve 10, Sangco 3, Pasturan 3, Carlos 3, Cullar 0, Marcos 0, Davis 0, Lepalam 0, Lim 0, Flores 0.
CSJL (71): Paraiso 16, Sangalang 11, Reyson 11, Caralpio 9, Santos 6, Yu 6, Javillonar 5, Olivario 4, Ariar 3, Guarinio 0, Go 0.
Quarter Scores: 20-23, 34-45, 64-59, 76-71
