College of St. Benilde bucked the absence of reigning MVP Allen Liwag for the second straight game as it repulsed Jose Rizal U, 73-65, to seize the solo Group B lead in NCAA Season 101 at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.
Raffy Celis and Justine Sanchez filled in the massive void left by Liwag (with flu-like symptoms) in propelling the Blazers to a third victory in four starts and straight to No. 1 in their bracket.
The Celis-Sanchez pair took turns in scoring the team’s final eight points with three minutes to go, quashing the last hope of the Heavy Bombers to turn things around.
Celis fired a game-high 20 points with five rebounds and four steals while Sanchez had 17 points, six rebounds and five assists.
‘We weathered the storm,’ said St. Benilde coach Charles Tiu.
JRU came into the showdown a few days after shell-shocking San Beda, 67-66.
In the other game, the Mapua Cardinals routed the San Sebastian Stags, 70-49, to improve to 3-1 and stay at No. 2 in Group A behind the Perpetual Help Altas.
The Stags slipped to 1-3.