COLLEGE of St. Benilde looks to move closer to sealing the no. 1 seed and take a two-to-beat advantage into the Final Four when it battles Colegio de San Juan de Letran in the NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball tournament on Friday. FilOil EcoOil Center in San Juan City.
The Blazers are currently on a six-game winning streak with a league-best 12-2 win-loss record. They are only half a game ahead of the second running Mapua team (12-3).
To strengthen their grip on the top spot, the Blazers must overcome the Knights, who desperately need a win to catch the last bus to the Final Four. St. Benilde is also looking for some form of revenge as they lost to Letran in the first round.
Letran is currently tied for fourth at 7-8 with Emilio Aguinaldo College and Lyceum of the Philippines University.
In the first round, Letran escaped with a 71-69 victory over St. Benilde, thanks to the three-point explosion of Deo Cuajao in the final period.
This time, the Blazers will try to contain Letran’s snipers and hope that Tony Ynot and Allen Liwag will continue to get hot on offense.
“The goal is the same, we want to finish strong in the second round. Get the top seed and hopefully work our way to the playoffs, make the finals and hopefully get that championship,” St. said. Benilde’s coach Charles Tiu.
Game time is 2:30 p.m
At 12 o’clock Lyceum will take on Jose Rizal University.
Lyceum kept its semifinal hopes alive after making it three games with a 93-85 win against San Sebastian College-Recoletos on Tuesday.
However, the Pirates will play without shooter JM Bravo as he has to take precautions after collapsing in a game against Arellano University. In his absence, Renz Villegas, John Barba and Mclaude Guadaña will take charge of the Lyceum.
The Heavy Bombers, on the other hand, will continue to lean on Joshua Guiab, Shawn Argente and Mart Barrera.