MANILA- College of St. Benilde (CSB) mentor Richard del Rosario passed his first test as a coach. Barely.

Bucking poor rebounding and atrocious free throw shooting, the Blazers survived the pesky Angeles University Foundation (AUF) Great Danes, 87-76, Monday to open its bid on a bright note in Season 85 of the NCAA cage wars at The Arena in San Juan City.

Angelo Montecastro machine-gunned his way to 20 points while the energetic Chuck Dalanon fired 18 to gift del Rosario, who succeeded Gie Abanilla late last year, a much-needed win.

“I’m happy I won my first NCAA game as a coach, I hope we could sustain it,” said del Rosario, who survived a long pro-career thanks to his solid post defense and excellent work ethic.

It appeared like del Rosario’s bruising defense, however, didn’t rub off to his players. His legendary bad free throw shooting did.

The taller, bigger Blazers were surprisingly beaten in the battle of the boards as the Great Danes plucked 62, 10 more than what the former could manage.

St. Benilde also threw bricks from the line as it missed 23 of the 42 shots they attempted there.

“We need to build up our strength inside, we also need to work on our free throws,” said del Rosario.