Jacob Cortez found his shooting form as the third year guard steered San Beda University to an 83-77 victory against rival De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in the NCAA Season 99 on Sunday.
The Red Lions, who dropped all their games to the Blazers in the previous season, bounced back from a loss to Mapua to improve to 2-1 while Benilde slipped to 1-2.
The Red Lions almost squandered a 22-point lead early on as the Blazers came to within seven points courtesy of an 11-2 run to open the third, 48-41.
Cortez pumped life back to San Beda as he beat the third quarter buzzer with a triple to put the Mendiola crew up by 11, 67-56.
Miggy Corteza, though, completed a three-point play opportunity before his layup cut Benilde's deficit to seven, 79-72, in the final 1:50 in the fourth.
Cortez then made a huge defensive stop when he deflected Robi Nayve's pass to Will Gozum following a big three-pointer from Migs Oczon that helped trim San Beda's lead to five, 82-77.
Cortez, who was limited to just nine points in the loss to the Cardinals, tallied a game-high 20 points to go with six rebounds, three assists, and a steal while Yukien Andrada chipped in 15 markers.
Migs Oczon paced the Blazers with 15 points while Will Gozum and Miggy Cortez had 14 markers apiece.
San Beda will look to build on this momentum when it takes on longtime rival Colegio de San Juan de Letran on Friday while Benilde faces Mapua University on Wednesday.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
