The Benilde Blazers basketball program represents

De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde (Filipino: ''Dalubhasaan ng De La Salle San Benildo;'' French:'' Collège De La Salle de Sainte Benilde''), also known as Benilde and abbreviated DLS–CSB or simply CSB, is a private, Catholic research c ...

(CSB) in men's basketball as a member of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)Pronounced "N-C-A-A". is an athletics association of ten private colleges and universities in Metro Manila, Philippines. Established in 1924, it is the oldest collegiate athletic association ...

(NCAA). The

Benilde Blazers The College of Saint Benilde Blazers are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines), NCAA senior varsity team of De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde. The Blazers were formerly a member National Capital Region Athletic Associat ...

joined the NCAA in 1998, having been a fixture in the

National Capital Region Athletic Association The National Capital Region Athletic Association (NCRAA) is an athletic association in Metro Manila (National Capital Region), Philippines established in 1993. It is primarily held during the second semester of a school around November until Febru ...

, The Blazers notably won its first and only NCAA title in 2000 under probation.

History

Champions under probation

The Blazers joined the NCAA in 1998. Two years later, they won the championship vs. the

San Sebastian Stags The San Sebastian Golden Stags (also known as SSC-R Stags) are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) basketball team of the San Sebastian College – Recoletos. Their 5 consecutive NCAA seniors basketball championships was th ...

, while under probation. The Blazers won just days after their brother team De La Salle Green Archers won the UAAP championship. The Blazers, under the leadership of players such as

Mark Magsumbol Mark M. Magsumbol is a Filipino retired basketball player. Magsumbol has played in the Philippine Basketball Association, the Philippine Basketball League, National Basketball Conference, and for the American Basketball Association (ABA) team S ...

and

Sunday Salvacion Sunday Salvacion (born December 17, 1978) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He played the small forward and shooting guard positions. Salvacion played college basketball for the De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) ...

developed a rivalry with the Stags, whom they met again the Finals two years later; this time, the Stags won. Dong Vergeire coached the Blazers during this time.

Playoff drought

After this run of qualifying to the playoffs, the Blazers have not made it to this stage of the tournament since. From 2005 until 2007, they were coached by former Benilde player

Caloy Garcia Carlos Jose "Caloy" Garcia is a Filipino professional basketball coach and former TV host. He is currently serving as team consultant for the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the Philippine Basketball Association. Early life Caloy Garcia was born ...

; he led them to three consecutive losing seasons.

Gee Abanilla Gelacio "Gee" Abanilla is a Filipino basketball player, coach, and executive who currently serving as the Team Manager for the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Playing career He played for the DLSU Green Archer ...

and

Richard del Rosario Richard del Rosario (born August 25, 1970) is a Filipino former basketball player who is currently serving as an assistant coach for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the PBA. He was drafted in 2nd round by Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs, traded t ...

next coached the team for the next four years, with the team missing the playoffs on all instances, with Del Rosario resigning in 2012. With new coach Gabby Velasco, the Blazers avoided last place in 2013, then narrowly missed the playoffs in 2014. The next year, the Blazers endured a 17-game losing streak, only to win on their last game, finishing last. Velasco resigned and was replaced by TY Tang. Tang led the Blazers to fifth place finishes in his second and third year of coaching the team, but migrated to Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the Blazers appointed Charles Tiu to coach the team. In his first year in

NCAA Season 97 NCAA Season 97 is the 2021–22 athletic year of the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the Philippines hosted by De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde. Background Colegio de San Juan de Letran's chairman awarded the Head of Sports ...

would be closest they've gotten to make it to the playoffs where they finished fourth after the elimination round, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, each team met the other teams only once, and a play-in tournament was done in lieu of the second round. It was in the play-in tournament where the Blazers were eliminated.

Current roster

NCAA Season 98

Head coaches

* 1998–2000: Bong Go * 2000–2003: Dong Vergeire * 2004–2005: Tonichi Yturri * 2005–2007:

* 2008:

* 2009–2012:

* 2013–2016: Gabby Velasco * 2017–2021: TY Tang * 2021–present: Charles Tiu

Season-by-season records

Honors

* Championships: ** NCAA (1): 2000

Notes

References

{{NCAA-PH men's basketball National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) basketball teams