The De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) Blazers settled for second place after accepting defeat versus the oversized Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles, 57-60, in a down-to-the-wire game at the 2023 Asiabasket Las Piñas Championship on July 30 at the Villar Coliseum in Las Piñas City.
The final game of the tournament began with consecutive misses on offensive rebounds from the Blue Eagles before Geo Chiu scored the first point from a free throw, 0-1. After a Will Gozum miss, Paul Turco began the Benildean offense with an easy two inside the paint, 2-1. The first few minutes, however, were owned by the Blue Eagles because of unforced errors and a lazy defense by the Blazers. Physicality started to show as Sean Quitevis busted his chin from defending a Blazer layup. The first quarter ended with an Ateneo six-point lead, 15-21.
The second quarter kicked off with the Blue Eagles showing off their size and the Blazers bowing as Michael Mara struggled to get his shots off against Joseph Obasa’s defense, though redeeming himself later with an and-one. The Blazers responded by countering Ateneo’s size advantage with mobility and ball movement, with credits to Miguel Oczon for setting up the plays for a Carlos three and a couple of Jessie Arciaga layups, 25-26. The men in green and white further capitalized on the Blue Eagles’ slump as Gozum blocked Jason Credo’s runner, giving Nayve the honor to bring Benilde to their first lead of the game, 27-26. The dominance of Ateneo’s large lineup, however, found its way back as Kai Ballungay and Shawn Tuano provided putbacks through offensive boards. The score at halftime saw Ateneo leading by four, 29-33.
The third quarter continued to be a tale of two differently-sized lineups. After a seesaw affair between Andrew Bongo and Mark Sangco, the Blazers’ undersized lineup started to show its cracks, as multiple shots at the basket were getting swatted away by Obasa and Chiu. The Blazers’ skid gets deeper as Miguel Corteza went down after colliding with Obasa. Nayve though finally sparked some light in the dark for Benilde with a much-needed three and Gozum added to the momentum swing with a reverse layup inside and a free throw from drawing a foul past the Ateneo bigs, 43-48. The quarter ended with two highlight plays: an Obasa slam dunk over Felipe Marasigan and a mesmerizing Carlos Pinoy step reverse layup over two Blue Eagles high off the glass, 45-50.
The final 12 minutes of the tournament had the tall lineup of Ateneo proving to be the more advantageous while Benilde’s persistence of their smaller roster kept them alive. The Blue Eagles eventually lost their lead after Espinosa this time got stripped by Gozum, who made an automatic two on the other end giving them a one-point advantage, 51-50. The fourth quarter welcomed back injured players Quitevis and Corteza, who both contributed points on the board in the dying minutes of the game. The dominant size of Ateneo forced the Blazers to give up their lead, 51-54, after an Obasa putback with 5:55 remaining. Amidst a low-scoring quarter, the ice finally broke when Nayve glided for a putback off a Gozum missed layup, 53-54. Coming down to two minutes left, Espinosa flamed the Blazers with a three-pointer to up the Blue Eagle lead to six, 53-59.
With 12.5 seconds to go, Obasa was fouled and missed both free throws to Benilde’s huge relief. As the ball went directly to Gozum’s hands, the Blazers did not call a timeout and Prince Carlos stopped and popped behind the arc for a possible game-tying shot that resulted in a backboard-only miss. The final buzzer sounded and the Ateneo Blue Eagles were crowned the 2023 Asiabasket Las Piñas Champions with a final score of 57-60.
BOX SCORE:
DLS-CSB (57) - Gozum 12, Nayve 11, Carlos 8, Sangco 6, Corteza 6, Oczon 5, Arciaga 4, Mara 3, Turco 2, Cajucom 0, Flores 0, Marasigan 0, Jalalon 0.
ADMU (60) - Espinosa 15, Ballungay 12, Obasa 8, Bongo 7, Chiu 7, Amos 5, Quitevis 4, Tuano 2, Koon 0, Credo 0, Lazaro 0, Gamber 0, Nieto 0, Celis 0, Gomez 0.
