De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and Jose Rizal University are both red-hot with winning streaks heading into this week. The two teams are also scheduled to head-to-head to end their respective first round campaigns. Take a look back at how they – and the other NCAA teams – fared in an exciting Week 4.
1 De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Blazers | Record: 7-1 (Week 4 record: 2-0) | Last week: 1st
Just another huge week for Benilde. They missed Migs Oczon for two games a couple weeks back, and this week, he showed just what the Blazers were missing without him. Oczon was named the Collegiate Press Corps Player of the Week with averages of 16.5 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 52.8-percent from beyond the arc.
The Blazers’ supporting cast for Will Gozum came back much-improved for this season but Oczon is their game-changer and Benilde absolutely looks as legitimate as they come, especially after another 2-0 week with wins over both Mapua and San Beda coming by nine points. That makes it four wins in a row and a place in solo first in the standings for now.
But before looking too far ahead, they have a big matchup looming against the red-hot JRU Heavy Bombers to close their first round campaign. But regardless of the result of that, what they have done this season has been nothing short of impressive as they have the chance to finish the first round at #1 in the standings.
2 Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers | Record: 5-2 (Week 4 record: 2-0) | Last week: 4th
Speaking of JRU, this team continued its terrific run in Season 98 by picking up a fifth consecutive victory after dropping its first two contests. More importantly, their two wins this week came against two of the top teams in San Beda and Lyceum, which is currently one of two teams ahead of them in the standings.
Marwin Dionisio has taken a step forward in their recent games, scoring 16 points in a win against San Beda then going for a 15 and 10 double-double against LPU, prompting JRU coach Louie Gonzalez to call Dionisio his “best forward”.
They’re red-hot right now, and they have the chance to cap the first round with a bang when they go up against league-leading Benilde. That will be a real test – for both teams – as they try to solidify their claims of contention. But JRU looks downright dangerous this season and they have the wins to prove it.
3 Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates | Record: 6-2 (Week 4 record: 1-1) | Last week: 2nd
LPU holds strong in second place in the NCAA Season 98 standings with a 6-2 record, but their loss to a streaking JRU team means they get knocked back in these power rankings at least.
The loss to the Heavy Bombers will hurt given just how close the two teams are on the win-loss table, but the Pirates can’t be too down after a big overtime win that saw JM Bravo enjoy a breakout performance. They’ve had so many players step up their game this season that Bravo has gone under the radar, but his nine points in OT showed that there really isn’t anyone on this LPU squad that opponents can afford to overlook.
This is a tough team with plenty of depth, and very much deserving of their place near the top of the standings right now.
4 Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights | Record: 5-3 (Week 4 record: 2-0) | Last week: 7th
The formula was pretty simple for Letran this week. Louie Sangalang and Brent Paraiso return from suspensions, and that resulted in a perfect 2-0 week to right the ship for the struggling Knights. It should come as no surprise that when this team is complete, they’re among the league’s best.
Both Sangalang and Paraiso contributed double-digit scoring in both of the Knights’ games this week with both logging 11.5 points per game this week. Beyond that, Sangalang was able to provide his usual energy and defense, which is huge for the Knights.
After the early drama and adversity, the defending champions have a chance to put their title defense bid back on track ahead of the all-important second round.
5 San Beda University Red Lions | Record: 5-3 (Week 4 record: 1-2) | Last week 3rd
Some highs and lows for this San Beda team this week. Their 35-point rout of Arellano gave a glimpse of how good this Red Lions team can be when things are clicking. But two losses to JRU and Benilde will pose more questions for this squad.
It really isn’t a great sign that they’ve been unable to beat the top teams in the standings, which is something they’ll have to do if they want to go on a deep run in the post-season.
There are some positive to take from this week, though, as Gab Cometa is emerging as an added offensive threat for the Red Lions with 15 points against JRU and 10 against Benilde. James Kwekuteye, too, seems to have found an extra gear after exploding for a career-high 28 points against Blazers.
6 University of Perpetual Help System DALTA Altas | Record: 4-4 (Week 4 record: 1-1) | Last week: 6th
Perpetual continued the trend of going an even 1-1 in every single week played in Season 98 so far. That’s not exactly exceptional for a team with Final Four aspirations, but it does keep them reasonably close to the leaders.
Jielo Razon had another 20-point game this week, which is a great development after an early slump. He’s knocking on the door of the Top-10 in scoring, as he has upped his average to 11.63 points per game. Mark Omega and Joey Barcuma had some good performances, too, and that’s a good sign for the ALTAs.
But they need to find a way to string some wins together if they are to make any kind of headway, especially in a season like this one, with so many tough teams fighting for the top spots.
7 Arellano University Chiefs | Record: 4-4 (Week 4 record: 0-1) | Last week: 5th
Just an underwhelming week for the Chiefs, who only had one assignment this week, but came out uninspired in a 35-point blowout loss to San Beda.
There’s just not too much to say after a game where they trailed by as many as 51 points. They didn’t show up for this game, and they need to put that behind them and bounce back. Period.
8 San Sebastian College-Recoletos Golden Stags | Record: 2-5 (Week 4 record: 0-2) | Last week: 8th
The Stags don’t have much to celebrate this week after losses to both Letran and LPU to make it four losses in a row. To be fair to them, they had some really tough matchups this week. But there really aren’t a lot of weeks where the game aren’t tough this Season 98, with so many teams contending.
Raymart Ecobido, at least, is enjoying a bit of a breakout as he averaged 15 points per game for San Sebastian this week. And it’s not like the Stags weren’t competitive, as they were within five points of the Knights in the final minute of that game and took the Pirates into overtime.
But that doesn’t mean all that much if they can’t put the wins on the board and that’s something they’ll need to figure out soon.
9 Mapua University Cardinals | Record: 1-8 (Week 3 record: 1-1) | Last week: 10th
Finally, something to be happy about for Mapua University after the Cardinals notched their first official win of the season. They can’t get too high about this win, though, as it comes at the end of their first round campaign and against winless EAC. Those eight losses are going to hurt them even if they have a strong second round, but this is a positive development.
Warren Bonifacio is finding his groove as he averaged 15 points per game and 10.5 rebounds in two contests this week. And the Cardinals can be proud that they put up a fight against the league-leading Blazers before fading late.
Still, this team must feel like they’ve finally gotten that monkey off their back, so that should ease some pressure off of them in the coming games. They promised a different Mapua team in the second round, and they definitely could use that if they want to salvage their campaign.
10 Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals | Record: 0-7 (Week 4 record: 0-2) | Last week: 9th
EAC must be pretty disappointed in how this season has gone. They came close to finally breaking through for their first win, but a heartbreaking endgame against Perpetual saw that fizzle. In a battle of winless teams against Mapua, they fell short in that as well.
The way they competed against the ALTAs, though, that has to be the default for the Generals. They held Perpetual to just 14 points in the second half and just 55 in the entire game. But they need to defend like that if they want to have a chance in games, and they have to start now, even with tough matches against Letran and San Sebastian looming on the schedule.
—JMB, GMA News
