COLLEGE of St. Benilde returned to its winning ways after defeating Lyceum, 70-67, in the NCAA Season 101 men’s basketball tournament.

The Blazers recovered from a 75-73 loss to Perpetual Help last Saturday to improve to a 5-3 card in Group B to tie with Letran in the second seed.

“I was so disappointed with the way we played but despite that we tried to stay positive,” coach Charles Tiu said.

“We had a long meeting to talk about things and straighten things out and I’m glad with the way they responded.”

The Blazers relied on reigning MVP Allen Liwag to deliver the goods down the stretch.

Benilde led by nine, 68-59, at the 2:35 mark of the fourth before the Pirates went on a valiant 8-0 run capped off by a Nathaniel Fuentes triple at the 37-second mark to bring Lyceum closer, 68-67.

That was when Liwag answered the call for coach Charles Tiu and company with a short stab to put the Blazers up for good, 70-67, with 17 seconds left.

Fuentes tried to sink a triple to send the game to overtime but to no avail.

Liwag finished just two rebounds shy of a double-double with 16 points and eight rebounds while Shawn Umali finished with 11 markers and seven boards.

The Pirates, meanwhile, stayed at the bottom of Group A with San Sebastian, which has an identical 1-7 card. Renz Villegas finished with 14 points in the loss. Jonathan Daileg’s double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds was also wasted.

The scores:

CSB 70 – Liwag 16, Umali 11, Cajucom 9, Ynot 8, Celis 8, Sanchez 7, Ancheta 4, Torres 2, Moore 2, Eusebio 2, Gaspay 1, Cometa 0, Oli 0, Morales 0

LPU 67 – Villegas 14, Gordon 11, Aviles 6, Moralejo 10, Daileg 10, Aviles 6, Versoza 6, Montaño 5, Fuentes 3, Pallingayan 2, Aurigue 0, Peñafiel 0