NCAA: St. Benilde puts an end to Mapua’s 6-game winning streak

MANILA — College of St. Benilde held on for a 71-69 win against Mapua on Monday, ending the Cardinals’ six-game winning streak in the NCAA Season 102 men’s basketball tournament at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

The result also snapped the Blazers’ two-game slide, hiking their record to 7-3 in Group A.

“We were lucky and fortunate to take the win today. We’ll take it,” coach Paolo Layug said.

“We just had to be solid… I can’t say some of the things I told the boys in the past few days but I really challenged them to step up today,” he added in jest.

A Justine Sanchez triple gave Benilde a 68-63 lead with 1:37 to play, before Cyrus Cuenco kept the Cardinals alive with a three-pointer of his own.

Sanchez responded almost immediately with a short stab to give the Blazers a 70-66 lead with under 30 seconds to go.

Cuenco, who finished with 21 points, three assists and two steals, was fouled in the next possession and sank all three of his freebies to inch closer to Benilde, 70-69, with 18 ticks to go.

While Jhommel Ancheta split his free throws on the other end, it was just enough to keep Mapua at bay as Cuenco missed the potential game-winning triple as time expired.

Ian Torres had his fingerprints all over the ball with 15 points, four assists and three rebounds in the win. Ancheta and Raffy Celis also turned in 14 markers each for Benilde.

Yam Concepcion registered 12 points and seven rebounds for Mapua while Jamal Diaz scored nine in the Cardinals’ (6-4) fourth loss in ten games.

CSB 71 – Torres 15, Ancheta 14, Celis 14, Sanchez 7, Cajucom 4, Go 4, Lorenzo 4, Morales 3, Jucom 2, Podador 2, Moore 2, Galas 0

MU 69 – Cuenco 21, Concepcion 12, Diaz 9, M. Nitura 9, Igliane 7, Lazarte 5, Mendoza 3, Dones 2, Reyes 1, L. Nitura 0, Razon 0, Liwanag 0, Bernabe 0

Quarter scores: 19-16, 33-30, 55-45, 71-69