CSB Blazers nail first Filoil win

This appears in the Friday, May 27, 2016 edition of the Business Mirror.

CSB Blazers nail first Filoil win

by rick olivares pic by nonoy lacza

The College of Saint Benilde Blazers believe in the old adage of “try and try until you succeed.”

The Blazers nailed their first win in five matches in the Filoil Flying V Premier Cup with a 71-46 conquest of the Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) Generals on Thursday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

The Generals were on a high following their huge victory over the University of the Philippines (UP) Maroons last week. But they followed that up with a stinker in which they turned the ball over 26 times and shoot a poor 26 percent from the field against the Blazers.

From a 30-24 first half with Saint Benilde in the lead, the Blazers’ sophomore center Christian Fajarito found a way to sneak up behind EAC’s massive 6-foot-nine center Hamadou Laminou for a pair of tip-ins and a reverse lay-up that galvanized his win-starved 

team.

By third period’s end, Saint Benilde’s lead stood at 53-39. With EAC continuing to turn the ball over and shooting bricks, the Blazers delivered the coup de grace highlighted by back-to-back treys by the returning Alfonso Saavedra to push the lead to 66-44 with 2:11 left.

Saavadra was only activated last week after a confusion with his schedule of classes as he is a graduating player.

Christian Fajarito and Edward Dixon led Saint Benilde with 12 points each, while Laminou was the lone bright spot for EAC with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

“The win is big for us, as it will help our confidence,” said a relieved Saint Benilde Head Coach Gabby Velasco. “We have a very young team filled with freshmen and sophomores. Saavedra was our lone veteran on the floor and his leadership was crucial. Losing the first four matches was tough but we have to keep on working hard and trying our best.”

Things got chippy between the two squads late in the third period, when the Blazers’ Carlo Young tripped Dixon during a scuffle for a loose ball. Young thought an EAC player tripped him and lashed out at the General’s Thomas Aguas, with point guard Raymund Pascua coming to his rescue.

Young was assessed a technical foul aside from his regular foul that put Saint Benilde into penalty situation. EAC was unable to capitalize as the Generals botched three-of-four free throws with 2:16 left in the third and the score pegged 48-37 in favor of Saint Benilde.

“I think that is where the game got away from us,” lamented EAC Coach Aris Sison, as his squad tumbled to a 1-4 slate, the same record as Saint Benilde.