Benilde Blazers guard Justine Sanchez saved his best shot of the night for the moment that mattered most. Sanchez drilled his seventh three-pointer of the game with a little over two minutes left in overtime to lift the Benilde Blazers past the Perpetual Help Altas, 81-79, in the NCAA Season 102 Men’s Basketball Tournament’s first overtime game of the season, played Thursday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
The extra period itself swung back and forth before Sanchez’s dagger. Mark Gojo Cruz opened overtime with the first field goal, putting Perpetual up 77-75. Jhommel Ancheta split a pair of free throws to cut it to one, but Gojo Cruz answered to keep the Altas ahead, 79-78. That’s when Sanchez stepped up, burying the go-ahead three to make it 81-79 and setting a new NCAA career high in points in the process. With 6.3 seconds left, Benilde’s defense held firm, denying LA Casinillo a tying look and sealing the win.
“They always say, especially si Coach Charles Tiu, na sige lang, tira mo lang, kasi pina-practice mo naman ‘yan,” Sanchez said of the shot. “Nagulat din ako eh, na kada hawak ko ng bola, kada bitaw ko kanina, parang batya ‘yung ring eh. Lahat ng pinagtrabahuhan mo, makikita mo ‘yung result. So sobrang sarap sa feeling na ganun ‘yung resulta ng game namin ngayon.”
Justine Sanchez Was a Stud for Benilde
Sanchez finished with 27 points on a blistering 7-of-8 shooting from deep, adding 7 rebounds and 2 assists. The win pushed Benilde to a second straight victory and sole possession of first place in Group A at 4-1, while Perpetual fell to 2-3 in Group B after its second consecutive loss.
Regulation itself was no less dramatic. After a tight first half, Benilde opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run and threatened to pull away with a five-point lead, but Perpetual weathered the charge and closed the period strong to take a 62-58 lead into the fourth. The Altas pushed that cushion to 66-58 early in the final frame before Benilde answered with four triples, three of them from Ancheta, to cut the gap to 71-70 with 3:23 left. Mowell Morales tied it at 72 off an Ian Torres assist with 1:51 to go, and after a Sanchez miss, Casinillo powered through the paint to put Perpetual back ahead, 74-72, with 5.1 seconds remaining. Ancheta drew a foul from Rey Maglupay on a three-point attempt on the ensuing possession and calmly sank two of three free throws to force a tie at 74-all. Jim Corpuz’s potential game-winning triple rimmed out with 1.6 seconds showing, sending the game to overtime.
“We need these games, and we need to learn how to play in these types of situations because that’s where we’re gonna see the growth of our team,” said Benilde coach Paolo Layug. “It says a lot that every game we have other players stepping up, especially that we’re dealing with a lot of injuries right now; we’re just trying to weather the storm.”
Blazers Fight Through Adversity
That depth was genuinely tested. Benilde played without four regulars—Raffy Celis (MCL sprain), Matt Jucom (hamstring strain), and Irele Galas (calf strain) were all sidelined, while Allen Liwag has yet to suit up at all this season.
Ancheta finished with 17 points and eight assists to go with his clutch free throws. Gojo Cruz led Perpetual with 15 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, while Casinillo added 12 points and eight rebounds. Kenji Duremdes chipped in 11 in the loss.
Benilde faces the San Sebastian Golden Stags on Monday, October 5, at 3:00 p.m., while Perpetual takes on defending champion San Beda Red Lions the following Thursday, October 8, at 5:00 p.m. Both games are set for the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
