St. Benilde Blazers
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| St. Benilde Blazers De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde |
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| League | NCAA and WNCAA | ||
| Joined | 1998 | ||
| Seniors' general championships | NCAA: 2 (2005-06, 2007-08) WNCAA: unknown |
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| Juniors' general championships | NCAA: (see La Salle Greenies article) WNCAA: unknown |
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| Location | Taft Avenue, Manila (Srs.) | ||
| Team colors | Green, White and Black | ||
| Juniors' team | LSGH Greenies | ||
| Women's team | Lady Blazers | ||
| Staple cheer | Animo Benilde! | ||
The St. Benilde Blazers (also as CSB Blazers) are the NCAA basketball team of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.
Their first NCAA seniors basketball title in 2000 was the fastest for an expansion squad (the Blazers joined in 1998).
The other seniors varsity teams may also be referred to as the Blazers. The juniors team are the Greenies of La Salle Green Hills, while the women's teams (volleyball and taekwondo) are the St. Benilde Lady Blazers.
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[edit] Name
As homage to the school which introduced several pioneering courses in the country, the college adopted the blazer as their monicker. It is a short term for trail blazers, which emphasizes the college's commitment to set a standard for education as well as sports development.[1]
[edit] Basketball
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[edit] With the La Salle Green Hills Greenies
When De La Salle University-Manila selected De La Salle-Santiago Zobel School as its junior affiliate team when it entered the UAAP in 1986, La Salle Green Hills was left without a membership in either the UAAP or the NCAA, thus starting a 17-year drought in a major collegiate league since its formal withdrawal from the NCAA in 1981.
De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, a member school of the De La Salle University System, applied for admission to the NCAA through the efforts of then System President Br. Andrew Gonzalez FSC, the Greenies was selected as the junior team by then LSGH President Br. Bernard Oca FSC. Both De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and La Salle Green Hills were admitted to the NCAA in 1998.
The La Salle Greenies (officially the CSB-LSGH Greenies) is the junior affiliate team of the St. Benilde Blazers. Since DLS-CSB is not directly connected with its high school affiliate, except that they are both administered by the Lasallian Brothers. As a result, LSGH labels "St. Benilde" instead of "La Salle" on their jerseys.
[edit] Saint Benilde - San Sebastian Rivalry
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School colors of CSB and SSC-R.
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This short lived rivalry sparked when DLS-CSB, who joined only in 1998, met San Sebastian College - Recoletos (or simply Baste) in the finals of 2000, and 2001. Then again in the Final Four of 2002. CSB won in the Finals of 2000, bannered by what is dubbed as the best CSB Blazers team ever assembled. With former NCAA MVP Sunday Salvacion, Jondan Salvador, and Al Magpayo, the St. Benilde Blazers beat the formidable San Sebastian Stags and won their first NCAA seniors basketball championship title, despite joining the league a season earlier. This marks the fastest win for any new school in the league since the World War.
However, the Stags avenged their defeat and defeated the Blazers in the Finals of 2001, and again in the Final Four of 2002 where they advanced and defeated UPHSD Altas in the Finals of that year.
[edit] Notable players
- Estelitus Mendoza
- Bernardino Perlas
- Carlos Reyes
- Lou Gatumbato
- JA Coching
- Daniel Benjamin Guevarra
- Mark Magsumbol
- Martin Reyes
- Rolly Menor
- Unik Reyes
- Francisco Pacheco III
- Angelo Muyco
- Jondan Salvador
- Sunday Salvacion - 1999 NCAA Rookie of the Year, 2002 NCAA Most Valuable Player
- Al Magpayo - 2002 NCAA Rookie of the Year
- Jay Sagad - 2005 NCAA Most Valuable Player
- Paolo Orbeta
- Martin Urra Jr.
[edit] Game-Fixing Controversy
On August 2, 2007, 24-year old Paolo Nallana Orbeta, point guard of the CSB Blazers, was arrested with 3 other people on the allegation of game-fixing with another accomplice, a certain Luigi Guingon who was also implicated with the group, remaining at large. Those arrested with Orbeta were James Ryan Rosario Mangaran, 24, schoolmate of Orbeta; Rajan Lachman Amante Chandumal, 31, alias “Howard Gan," salesman, and Inspector Aaron Raemon Abon Elago, 24, detailed to the Philippine National Police-Philippine Public Safety College (PNP-PPSC), Camp Crame in Quezon City.
The four suspects, who were in the process of defrauding a classmate of Orbeta of P1 million, authorities said, were charged with illegal gambling and robbery with violence at the Manila City Prosecutor’s Office.
In the investigation conducted by the Anti-Fraud and Computer Crimes Division (AFCCD) of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), headed by Assistant Regional Director (ARD) Vicente de Guzman III, it appeared that sometime in March 2007, the complainant, student Wilfred Uy, was approached by Orbeta, a hotel and restaurant management student, and Guingon at an eatery near DLS-CSB. Apparently, Orbeta and Guingon wanted to borrow PHP 300,000 from Uy to pay for losing bets in some games of the National Basketball Association (NBA). To convince Uy, Guingon offered a land title in the name of his uncle as collateral. Orbeta assured Uy that they can easily make money to redeem the land title by betting on a rigged NCAA basketball game.
On June 29, Uy handed over PHP 300,000 to Orbeta and the alleged "banker", “Howard Gan” (Chandumal), as Orbeta assured Uy that it would be a "sure win" and that he (Uy) could place his bet at their NCAA games. The complainant then placed his bet from July 9 to 15, but instead of winning, he merely broke even on his bets.
On July 18, Orbeta's team had a scheduled game with the San Sebastian Stags, and Orbeta told Uy that he could have better chances of winning if he (Uy) placed a bet of PHP 1-million on the so-called "player’s odds" where Uy will bet on Orbeta’s score, which in this case, Orbeta said he will place his score at less than 11 points, so that the bettor (Uy) would win. To further convince Uy, Orbeta also told him that he himself would place a P130,000 bet on the game. Uy agreed but the agreement between the two did not materialize. Chandumal, acting as the "banker," insisted that Uy lost the bet and demanded the PHP 1-million payment. It was at around this time that Uy got hold of information that the bet was a scheme by Orbeta and his group with the ploy having Orbeta score exactly 11 points to make it appear that Uy had lost the bet. Later that night, Orbeta allegedly called up Uy and threatened him to pay or he would be reported to school administrators.
The group continued to demand payment from Uy and on July 27, Orbeta, Chandumal, Guingon brought Elago (who used another badge) when they went to the complainant's house and threatened him with physical harm if he did not pay up. This prompted Uy to seek help from the NBI who, in coordination with the Manila Police District (MPD), arranged the entrapment operation to be done at Ate Em’s Eatery near Agno Street in Malate. The suspects were arrested just as they were receiving the marked money from Uy.
The suspects are facing violation of PD 1602 (illegal gambling) and Article 294 of the Revised Penal Code otherwise known as robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons. As evidence, the NBI said they will present the text messages of Orbeta to Uy asking him to place the bets and demanding money.
According to AFCCD's De Guzman, illegal betting on basketball games has proliferated but the lack of complainants has made it difficult to hold investigations and make arrests. Orbeta, who skipped the last NCAA season after claiming he could not handle the pressure of leading a rookie-laden team, is in danger of losing his entire collegiate basketball career. St. Benilde athletic director Henry Atayde said they would conduct a full-scale investigation of his alleged “game-fixing” activities following his arrest. If proven guilty, Orbeta could be banned for life in the NCAA and even expelled from his school. The NCAA management committee, which has just wrapped an investigations on sacked member school Philippine Christian University in the pre-season, vowed to take “appropriate action.”
[edit] References
- ^ The League of Extraordinary Players, The LANCE June 2005
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