PERPETUAL survived a furious rally from Emilio Aguinaldo College, 55-54, Tuesday in the NCAA Season 98 seniors basketball tournament at Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
The Generals fought back ffrom seven points down, 55-48, in the last four minutes, but Ralph Robin missed two free throws with 37.2 seconds left and muffed the potential game-winning drive in the waning moments.
The Altas almost fumbled the win away, with Mark Omega making a costly turnover as his pass intended for Kim Aurin sailed out of bounds and gave EAC one last crack in the final 23.1 ticks, one that thankfully Robin botched.
Nonetheless, Perpetual heaved a huge sigh of relief as it won back-to-back games to even its record to 3-3 (win-loss).
Omega tallied 15 points, 11 rebounds, and one block but he almost saw this solid game flushed down because of that endgame gaffe.
Joey Barcuma contributed 10 points, four boards, two assists, and two steals, and Jielo Razon got eight points, seven rebounds, four steals, and two dimes.
EAC, meanwhile, suffered its sixth straight loss.
Joshua Tolentino paced the Generals with 15 points, five assists, and three rebounds, while JC Luciano got seven points, 13 boards, and two assists in the defeat.
The scores:
PERPETUAL 55 - Omega 15, Barcuma 10, Razon 8, Aurin 6, Ferreras 5, Martel 3, Cuevas 3, Roque 2, Nitura 2, Egan 1, Abis 0, Orgo 0, Boral 0, Flores 0.
EAC 54 - Tolentino 15, Maguliano 7, Luciano 7, Liwag 5, Robin 4, An. Doria 4, Gurtiza 4, Umpad 4, Bajon 4, Cosa 0, Quinal 0, Cabuhat 0.
Quarters: 16-12, 41-28, 47-43, 55-54.
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