CARLO LASTIMOSA showed shades of his uncle, PBA great Jojo Lastimosa, as he scored 10 points in the final canto to power the College of St. Benilde Blazers to a 70-61 win over the Lyceum Pirates in the 88th NCAA basketball tournament yesterday at the Arena in San Juan City.
Lastimosa totalled 14 points, six rebounds and six assists in all-around performance that saw him score 10 points in the fourth that helped the Blazers come back from a 49-53 deficit at the end of the third stanza.
The Pirates appeared to have all the momentum after they unleashed a crippling 11-2 rally anchored on the shotmaking of gunner Chris Guevarra, who made a three-pointer and a layup off an alley-oop pass that put them on top, 46-40.
St. Benilde momentarily regained the lead but relinquished it again going into the final canto.
There, Lastimosa came alive as he scored eight in a 16-2 blitz that totally turned the tides. He dug down deep on defense to strip the ball from the Pirates’ guards and went all the way to the rack for several uncontested lay-ups.
When the dust cleared, St. Benilde was on top, 65-57, with under five minutes left.
Lyceum last threatened at 61-67, after a keyhole jumper by Rich Guevarra. But St. Benilde answered back with a perimeter shot from big man Jan Tan that virtually sealed the game with 1:21 left. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio