EAC clobbers Arellano: Blazers ram Cards, boost bid

Games tomorrow (The Arena, San Juan)

4 p.m. – Lyceum vs San Sebastian

6 p.m. – St. Benilde vs Perpetual Help

MANILA, Philippines - St. Benilde sustained its resurgence as it walloped hapless Mapua, 84-64, for a third straight win sending the Blazers into Final Four contention in the 89th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Unheralded Dexter Garcia, a 24-year-old sophomore from Zamboanga City, dished out a career best game marked by 18 points, five rebounds and three assists to lead the Blazers to win No. 3 after five consecutive losses.

“He was huge today (yesterday). He made big shots for us,” said St. Benilde coach Gabby Velasco of Garcia.

After controlling most of the game with their sleek running game, the Blazers found themselves in trouble in the second half after Darrel Dave Magsigay buried a triple to help the Cardinals close the gap, 57-60.

But Garcia went on a seven-point splurge to spark the decisive run that helped seal it for the Taft avenue-based school.

The Blazers are now on a hot run with earlier victories over the Lyceum Pirates, 75-69, and the Arellano U Chiefs, 69-62. They finally hit their stride after numbing defeats in close battles. They dropped those games by an average margin of 1.4 points.

“I think those losses helped us to be tougher, and every game, win or lose, we consider as a learning experience,” said Velasco.

St. Benilde has zoomed from tail-end to solo sixth spot behind Letran (7-1), reigning three-peat titlist San Beda (7-1), Perpetual Help (6-2), Jose Rizal (5-3) and San Sebastian (5-3).

In the nightcap, Emilio Aguinaldo College smashed Arellano U, 79-63, in a game marred by a fight between EAC’s Sydney Onwubere and AU’s James Forrester.

Igee King, son of former PBA star Abe, came through with 20 points, four rebounds and the same number of assists to lead EAC to their third win in eight games.

The action didn’t end after the final buzzer as tempers flared as the two teams headed into their dugouts.

Forrester was caught by TV cameras chasing one EAC player before being restrained by his teammates.