Still without reigning MVP Allen Liwag, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde flexed all its might on dangerous Jose Rizal University, 73-65, in the NCAA Season 101 on Sunday at the Filoil Centre.
The Blazers turned to Raffy Celis and Justine Sanchez in their fourth-quarter surge, grabbing their third straight win to 3-1 in Group B.
Benilde has not dropped a game since absorbing a 96-85 loss to San Beda University in the opening-day match at Araneta Coliseum — and they did so despite a depleted roster.
JRU, though, did not make life easy for the Blazers with rookie Sanlea Peñaverde powering the third-quarter comeback that allowed JRU to force a 49-all deadlock before Sanchez got the bounce on his triple at the buzzer as Benilde took a slim 55-51 cushion.
Sanchez and Celis then presided over the payoff period storm.
The former Ateneo de Manila University player converted back-to-back layups, the second of which came from a dish from Sanchez as they raced to a 63-58 lead.
Ivan Panapanaan then sank a sneaky inbound pass from Yuri Duque before another rookie sensation Sean Salvador completed three free throws off a costly foul from Tony Ynot at the three-point line, cutting the deficit to two with 2:52 to go, 65-63.
However, Sanchez and Celis pressed the takeover button with the former grabbing an and-one play before the latter stole the leather from Peñaverde and turned it into a layup for a 69-63 advantage.
They closed it out scoring the last two baskets as Benilde soared to its third win in four games, securing the top seed so far in the so-called 'Group of Death'.
Benilde head coach Charles Tiu said that Sanchez and Celis may have led the charge in the endgame, but stressed anyone from the squad can deliver at any point.
"For us, it's really whoever plays well. We wanna be a team that shares the ball, everybody's has a chance, everybody's involved. It just so happens that those are the two guys that made plays today," Tiu said.
"Although Sanchez has been our best player in the first four games, I thought Raffy was big on both ends of the floor today."
JRU faded in the fourth after losing top gunner Shawn Argente to ejection late in the third after the veteran guard was whistled for his second technical foul for taunting.
Still, JRU, who has already beaten San Beda and Letran, came so close to pulling the upset against last year's finalist Benilde.
Salvador top-scored with 13 points while Peñaverde chipped in 11 markers. Argente finished with nine points as he exited the game at a point where he was fueling the JRU rally.
Scores:
Benilde 73 - Celis 20, Sanchez 17, Morales 7, Ancheta 5, Umali 5, Moore 5, Oli 5, Gaspay 3, Eusebio 2, Cajucom 2, Ynot 1, Galas 1, Jalalon 0.
JRU 65 - Salvador 13, Peñaverde 11, Argente 9, Lozano 9, Benitez 7, Panapanaan 5, Laurenaria 5, Garupil 4, Herrera 2, Duque 0, Castillo 0, Sarmiento 0.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
