Blazers hold off Tigers in FilOil Preseason Cup

COLLEGE of St. Benilde ( CSB) banked on its veteran players as it held off a shorthanded University of Sto. Tomas ( UST), 99- 87, in the 12th FilOil Flying V Preseason Cup on Tuesday at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan City.

Mainstays Clement Leutcheu, Edward Dixon and JJ Domingo led the Group B- leading team Blazers to their fifth straight win in as many games.

Senegalese big man Leutcheu notched a double- double of 22 points and 15 rebounds while Dixon and Domingo fired 16 and 14 markers, respectively.

St. Benilde head coach TY Tang lauded his team for winning the highly physical game that saw a total of 61 fouls and one ejected player from each squad.

“Being mentally tough is being able to play within the environment and still win after 40 minutes of the game. I think we just handled that well,” said Tang.

The young mentor also commended his young guns for stepping up in the absence of guards Unique Naboa and James Pasturan, who chipped in 11 and seven points, respectively, before being sidelined by injuries. Prized recruit Justin Gutang got injured during the pre- game warm- up.

“It’s a good thing that they stepped up in terms of playing today. They were really ready to play,” he said.

Kenneth Zamora and Zach Huang led the Growling Tigers