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| With their main men given a day off, the other CSB players stepped up against EAC. NCAA |
MANILA--College of St. Benilde delivered what could be a stern warning to Mapua ahead of their quarterfinal clash as it pipped Emilio Aguinaldo College, 87-82, in their last NCAA group stage game on Friday at the Playtime FilOil Centre in San Juan City.
In a no-bearing game since both teams already knew their playoff fate beforehand, the Blazers, who decided to rest Tony Ynot, Shawn Umali, and Justine Sanchez, showed their depth as the other players, including the returning Allen Liwag, completed a second-half surge to steal the win from the Generals.
Liwag led CSB, which finished the group stages with three straight wins to go up to 9-4, with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting, eight rebounds, two assists, one block, and two steals.
Matthew Oli added 14 points on 5-of-6 field goals, four rebounds, one assist, and two steals.
Already locking in the second seed for Group B following the San Beda Red Lions' Wednesday win against the Generals, the Blazers will have a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals against the Cardinals, the same team that beat them in last year's finals.
Jude Bagay fired 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting with four rebounds and two steals for EAC, which fell to 4-9 after five straight losses.
Nobie Lucero added 20 points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block as the team dearly missed again its head coach Jerson Cabiltes, who is still in Bangued with his other club, Pangasinan, for the MPBL North Division Finals.
The Heatwaves will play the Abra Weavers again later Friday in Game 2 of the best-of-five series.
