BY the skin of its teeth, Perpetual avoided the ignominy of being the only team to fall to winless San Sebastian.
The Altas dug deep and got their act together late to repulse the Golden Stags, 79-73, in the NCAA Season 102 seniors basketball play-in Thursday at the Playtime Filoil Centre in San Juan.
Shawn Orgo and Mark Gojo Cruz made clutch plays in crunch time, as Perps just dodged the upset axe held by a Baste side desperate to avoid a zero-win campaign.
The Altas' prize, though, is a playoff matchup against defending champion San Beda, which will be coming to the quarterfinals on Monday armed with a twice-to-beat incentive as the Group A top seed.
Perpetual shows character
Still, Perpetual was made to sweat after San Sebastian's explosive 14-of-36 three-point shooting rallied the cellar-dwellers from a 62-49 deficit and tied the game at 64 to set up the frantic finish.
Orgo drained the huge jumper that broke the 73-all deadlock in the final minute, before the Altas defense forced a charge on Ralph Gabat and Gojo Cruz sealed the deal with an and-one play with 18.6 seconds to spare.
"It's just about making the right plays and right decision in the end," said coach Olsen Racela. "Sabi ko naman lagi sa players dumepensa lang. Nung huli, nakita na rin nila yung weak points [ng depensa ng San Sebastian]."
Rookie Jim Corpuz had his breakout game for the Las Pinas-based side with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from deep, on top of four rebounds, and three assists, as Perps shot an equally fiery 11-of-31 clip from downtown.
Orgo also got 15 points, five assists, and two boards; Gojo Cruz chipped in 10 points, six rebounds, and two assists; and LA Casinillo had 10 points, three boards, and two dimes in the win.
On the flipside, this is the end of what has been a nightmarish season for the Golden Stags, who lost all 14 of their assignments.
Kent Bacani paced the Recto crew with 20 points on a 5-of-9 clip from deep, as Christian Ricio scored 12 points and Vincent Segovia had 10 in the exit.
Baste's losing slide is now at 18 straight overall - tying the third-worst in the NCAA Final Four era.
The Scores:
PERPETUAL 79 - Corpuz 18, Orgo 15, Gojo Cruz 10, Casinillo 10, Tulabut 8, Borja 7, Gelsano 7, Duremdes 3, Maglupay 1, Montemayor 0, Roluna 0, Cristino 0, Cauguiran 0.
SAN SEBASTIAN 73 - Bacani 20, Ricio 12, Segovia 10, Cuya 9, Gabat 6, Muktimar 4, Alforque 3, Kitane 3, Salvo 3, Castor 2, Dimaunahan 1, Velasco 0.
Quarters: 27-20, 55-44, 64-59, 79-73.
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