Blazers streak past Bombers, barge into quarterfinals

MANILA, Philippines - St. Benilde hung tough in the clutch to pound out a 67-63 victory over Jose Rizal U and clinch the last quarterfinal berth in Group B of the Filoil Flying V Pre-Season Hanes Cup at the Flying V Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Carlo Lastimosa scored 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting and made eight assists but it was his defensive gem on Nat Lopez in the last 45 seconds that sealed the victory for the Blazers, who wound up with a 4-4 card.

“We really did not expect to get into the quarterfinals, we just wanted to see how we’ve improved throughout the preseason,” said St. Benilde coach Richard Del Rosario, whose wards will, however, face unbeaten San Beda in a knockout match in the quarters.

Lastimosa’s endgame heroics’ cut short the Heavy Bombers’ scary 12-3 run late in the fourth, putting JRU back to within three. Joel Tolentino finalized scoring with a split in the last 12 seconds. Lastimosa also made four steals.

“My players now feel good about themselves. But the match against San Beda will be a good measure of how well can we play against the top teams,” said Del Rosario, who shuffled 11 players, who scored at least two points.

Jonathan Grey chipped in 12 markers while Jan Tan added eight points and Mark Romero scored six points and nine boards for St. Benilde.

– Roland Quilante/Contributor