Lastimosa heroics lift Blazers past Heavy Bombers

Carlo Lastimosa scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth period, including the marginal basket, to lift College of Saint Benilde to a thrilling 78-77 win over Jose Rizal University Wednesday in the 87th NCAA men's basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City. Lastimosa's driving lay-up against Byron Villarias' defense, with 5.2 seconds left, secured the Blazers' third win in six matches. JRU's Ronnel Carampil failed to secure the ball that prevented him from making a decent attempt for another heartbreaking loss, the second straight for the Heavy Bombers (2-4). The Mandaluyong-based team suffered a 79-77 triple overtime loss to University of Perpetual Help System DALTA last week. George Allen's buzzer-beating shot gave the Altas their first win of the season. CSB is in solo fifth place in the tournament and Blazers coach Richard Del Rosario is satisfied with their standing. "It's a big win for us. At least we are still in the middle of the pack." "We were just lucky to get out with the win. We were getting shots from the free throw line but we missed 20 (32-of-52) and we were badly outrebounded (51-35)," added Del Rosario. It was not the first time that Lastimosa, Alaska's Jojo Lastimosa's nephew, took a last-second shot. He missed a potential game-winner in a one-point loss to San Beda last July 22. "(Lastimosa) cried when we lost to San Beda. I just told him to use the experience as a chance to make him a better player because I know he will get that chance. That exactly what happened in this game," said Del Rosario. Lastimosa almost gave the win away after JRU's Alex Almario stole the ball away from him but the Bombers' sophomore guard was called for a travelling violation at the other end. CSB, with no time outs left, went to Lastimosa for the final play and last season's Rookie of the Year did not let his team down. "I told myself that I won't pass the ball anymore and go straight to the basket. That is one of the plays of coach Richard for me, I just got lucky that they left me open to take the shot," said the 20-year-old Lastimosa. Lastimosa's end-game heroics even became a trending topic in the Philippines on the popular social networking site Twitter. — JVP, GMA News