PERPETUAL dug deep and staved off Jose Rizal University, 77-66, in a highly physical affair Tuesday in the NCAA Season 95 seniors basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Centre.
Basically fighting for pride after both were booted out with San Sebastian's win over Lyceum earlier in the day, it was the Altas which showed more grit as they rode the leadership of Rey Peralta.
The sophomore forward churned out a career-high 25 points on a 4-of-6 shooting from deep, to go with nine rebounds in the win.
Peralta's breakout came at the right time as Perpetual missed the presence of Kim Aurin, who was ejected at the 1:39 mark of the first quarter for retaliating against Chester Jungco in what would be one of the fracas which peppered the duel.
Coach Frankie Lim, though, minced no words for the way JRU played the game and lambasted the players for what he felt were unsportsmanlike behavior.
"Ganoon sila maglaro eh. Yung (Jungco), binabali yung thumb (ni Peralta). What do you expect him to do? Di na basketball yun eh," he said. "Walang class. Bakit mo kailangan gawin yun? Anong klaseng basketball yun?"
Lim, though, didn't let those incidents overshadow the victory that brought the Altas up to 5-10 in the standings heading into the final three games of the eliminations.
"As much as possible, we want to win all three games. Ang importante sa amin is ma-develop yung winning attitude. That's the most that you can do," he said.
Edgar Charcos added 13 points, nine assists, five steals, and four rebounds, while Ben Adamos tallied a double-double of 11 points, 12 boards, three assists, two steals, and a block.
The Heavy Bombers, meanwhile, sank to a 4-11 card.
Agem Miranda led JRU with 16 points, two rebounds, and two assists, as JL delos Santos got 12 points, eight boards, three steals, and two dimes in the defeat.
The Scores:
PERPETUAL 77 -- Peralta 25, Charcos 13, Adamos 11, Giussani 9, Razon 6, Aurin 6, Labarda 4, Sese 3, Tamayo 0, Martel 0, Sevilla 0, Cuevas 0.
JRU 66 -- Miranda 16, Delos Santos 12, Dionisio 10, Vasquez 7, Dela Rosa 6, Jungco 5, Arenal 4, Amores 4, Aguilar 2, Abaoag 0, Macatangay 0.
Quarters: 21-16, 40-33, 61-51, 77-66.