ARELLANO pulled off a major upset over Perpetual, 70-69, in the NCAA Season 101 men’s basketball tournament at Playtime Filoil Centre on Sunday.
The Chiefs, the third-running team in Group A prior to the game day, kept the Altas reeling to their third straight loss and fourth overall.
Arellano improved to 5-6, moving closer to defending champion Mapua, which has a 6-5 record.
Aside from the improvement in the standings, coach Chico Manabat was ecstatic with the fact they now have won two straight, a first for the season, following their victory vs. San Sebastian a few days ago.
“Ang pinakamaganda dito e ‘yong manalo… ‘Yong preparations din namin kasi, tumutugma sa mga crucial moments na ganito kasi pinaghahandaan talaga namin ‘yong ganito,” said Manabat.
“We have two games left sa group namin at nawa, makuha pa rin namin para maganda.”
On the other hand, the Altas’ loss sent Group A to a free-for-all.
Now holding an 8-4 card, Perps could slide down to as low as the second seed, leaving room for the Cardinals to make a late-round rally to snag the seat at the top of the hill.
Arellano ascends
The Chiefs led by as much as 10 points in the 2:11 mark of the fourth quarter before Perpetual unloaded a 9-0 rally capped off by an LA Casinillo triple in the last 25 seconds of the game.
That would be all she wrote, though, as Mark Gojo Cruz missed the would-be game-winner for the Altas.
The guard tandem of T-Mc Ongotan and Renzo Abiera fueled Arellano to the finish line with 22 and 16 points, respectively.
Gojo Cruz did a little bit of everything with 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists for Perps, but to no avail. John Abis’ 13-point game was also flushed down the drain.
The Scores:
ARELLANO 70 – Ongotan 22, Abiera 16, Hernal 8, Valencia 8, Camay 7, Vinoya 5, Buenaventura 4, Geronimo 0, Libang 0, Borromeo 0, Demetria 0, Langit 0, Acop 0, Cabotaje 0
PERPETUAL 69 – Gojo Cruz 14, Abis 13, Casinilio 10, Sleat 8, Boral 8, Orgo 8, Nuñez 4, Pizarro 2, Maglupay 2, Alcantara 0, Duremdes 0, Tulabut 0
Quarters: 28-20, 44-28, 55-47, 70-69
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