By Joey Villar
COLLEGE of St. Benilde (CSB) and San Sebastian battle each other on Friday for a spot in the play-in phase of the 97th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball tournament at the La Salle Greenhills Gym.
The Blazers are out to erase the stigma of a stinging 84-65 defeat at the hands of the Mapua Cardinals on Wednesday that sent the former skidding to fourth from joint third with a 4-3 card while dealing a blow to their play-in bid.
CSB also hopes to get back on its feet against an San Sebastian College-Recoletos (SSC-R) squad that is riding the crest of a 70-64 victory over Jose Rizal University (JRU) — the Stags’ third against four setbacks — on Tuesday.
Game time is at 3 p.m.
The Stags are expected to throw in the zone defense on the Blazers after the latter shot an atrocious 1-of-18 from beyond the arc in their most recent loss.
SSC coach Egay Macaraya is expecting CSB to make an adjustment in its perimeter game though.
“They are very good team, they hustle a lot,” said Mr. Macaraya.
Sweet-shooting big man JM Calma should be the focal point of the Stags’ offense as well as the backbone of their defense after the skipper who is playing his farewell season exploded for a career-high 26 points including five booming triples on top of 11 rebounds.
“I will just do my best to help the team in whatever way I can,” said the 6-5 Mr. Calma.
Meanwhile, Arellano University (2-4) and Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) (1-5) fight for dear play-in life as the two tackle each other at 12 p.m.