PERPETUAL was made to sweat late in the game but ultimately pulled it off in the end as it survived a fiery Lyceum rally in the endgame to take 73-61 in the Sunday edition of the NCAA Season 101 at the Playtime Filoil Center in San Juan.
Leading by 18, 67-49, with 4:36 remaining in the fourth, the Pirates went on a blistering 12-0 run behind the hot hands of Jonathan Daileg to trim the Perpetual lead to just six, 67-61 with 1:12 remaining in the game.
But the boys of coach Olsen Racela showed great composure -- as John Abis scored on a putback of a Shawn Orgo miss before Patrick Sleat put the finishing touches with a short jumper to put the game away for good and stay unbetaen in Group A action with a 2-0 record.
"We were able to control the game for the first 36 minutes pero alam namin na babalik yung Lyceum. So we just have to do a better job of finishing games, hindi pwedeng ganun, naging complacent kami," Perpetual coach Olsen Racela said.
"Again this is a young team. We have a lot to learn. So maganda yung madaan namin ng ganyan so we know what to do next time," he added.
Altas hold on
Sophomore Mark Gojo Cruz sparked the Altas breakaway in the middle quarters as they took a double-digit lead immediately after a close first quarter.
It was a lead they maintained up until the final five minutes of the fourth, before Daileg drained three treys in a three minute stretch to ultimately make the game interesting.
Still, the young squad of coach Racela gutted it out in the end, making key stops and baskets to get that win that was certainly far from pretty, but will give them a lot of learnings.
"Everytime a team makes a run, ang sinasabi ko palagi, stops. Minsan ang focus nila is on the offensive end, to stop a run gusto nila maka-shoot, hindi. To stop a run, you have to make a stop on the defensive end. That's why I told them," Racela shared.
"Yung maka-shoot kami bonus nalang, makakatulong yun. Pero we should focus on stops. We didn't do that in the last few minutes."
For the second straight game, Gojo Cruz led the Altas with 18 points to go along four rebounds, four assists and three steals while Jearico Nunez finished with a double-double of 13 points and 10 boards.
They also did a good job spreading the wealth as Sleat and Shawn Orgo added nine apiece, while JP Boral chipped in eight as Abis finished with six points while hauling down 10 boards.
Renz Villegas once again led the way for the now 0-2 Pirates with 18 points while Montano added 11 points and five boards. Ato Barba, on the other hand, continued his struggles in Season 101 as he went scoreless on 0-6 shooting in just nearly 14 minutes of action.
The Scores:
PERPETUAL 73 – Gojo Cruz 18, Nuñez 13, Orgo 9, Sleat 9, Boral 8, Abis 6, Maglupay 4, Tulabut 4, Gelsano 2, Alcanatara 0, Casinilio 0, Duremdes 0, Roluna 0
LYCEUM 61 – Villegas 18, Montaño 11, Daileg 9, Peñafiel 8, Versoza 6, Aurige 4, Gordon 3, Moralejo 2, Barba 0, Aviles 0, Pallingayan 0, Matienzo 0, Casiño 0, Paulo 0
Quarters: 21-20, 46-34, 59-43, 73-61
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