IN a game which had all the makings and the atmosphere of the finals, Perpetual proved that it certainly is championship material.
The Altas needed three overtime periods but ultimately had the last say in the end after outlasting the San Beda Red Lions 88-85 in a battle between the two top teams of the NCAA Season 101 on Wednesday at the Playtime Filoil Center.
Mark Gojo Cruz and JP Boral hit two crucial threes in the third overtime as they survived the Janti Miller-powered Red Lions in the third extension to improve to 8-1 in the tournament.
"I'm just so proud of how we fought today. We were up in the first quarter, bumalik sila then dikitan na hanggang sa huli. We were up in regulation tapos humabol din sila. Ang galing nung Miller e," Perpetual head coach Olsen Racela said.
"To beat a really great program like San Beda is really an achievement for our school, for our team. Ngayon lang namin natalo San Beda e. But like what I always say to the team and to the players, never too high, never too low. I know nananalo kami but we still have four games in the elimination but at least may puhunan na kami."
The Altas started like a house on fire, opening with a 15-3 lead to kick off the game but the Red Lions, being the Red Lions slowly clawed back with a strong middle quarters.
The two teams then went blow for blow up until the very end, with a Yukien Andrada three-pointer sending the game into the first of the three extensions.
In the overtime, it was basically all about surviving Miller who proceeded to carry the Red Lions on his back.
Miller hit a tough lay-up to send the game into second overtime, while also draining a tightly contested three in the the second overtime to force a third extension where the Altas finally created enough separation to pull it off.
Gojo Cruz's three gave the Altas an 85-81 lead with 2:16 remaining in the third overtime. Miller responded on the other end to trim the Perpetual lead back to two, but Gojo Cruz found a wide-open Boral which gave the Altas some breathing space, 88-83, with 52 seconds remaining in the ball game.
Miller wasn't about to give up. The 21-year-old Fil-American hit a jumper to push the Red Lions back to a single-possession, before the team collectively forced a stop on the other end for one last shot in the end.
The Altas, though, finally got that sigh of relief as Andrada's three which would've sent the game into a fourth OT missed in the dying seconds.
Patrick Sleat led the way for Perpetual with 23 points, six rebounds and four assists before fouling out in the early goings of 3OT. Gojo Cruz had 20 points, five rebounds and five assists while John Abis finished with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds which he sprinkled with three steals and three assists.
Miller led the way for the Red Lions with 28 points and seven rebounds while scoring 14 of San Beda's 21 points in the three overtime periods.
Andrada added 13 points while Nygel Gonzales chipped in 11 points and seven assists for the now 6-2 Red Lions who are still sitting pretty atop Group B after Letran fell earlier to San Sebastian.
The scores:
PERPETUAL 88 - Sleat 23, Gojo Cruz 20, Abis 14, Nunez 8, Boral 8, Orgo 7, Alcantara 5, Casinillo 2, Pizzaro 1, Maglupay 0, Borja 0, Gelsano 0
SAN BEDA 85 - Miller 28, Andrada 13, Gonzales 11, Estacio 10, Puno 9, Etulle 5, Lina 4, Culdora 3, Celzo 2, Sajonia 0, Reyes 0, Calimag 0
Quarters: 17-8, 36-36, 48-51, 64-64, (REG), 72-72, 77-77, 88-85
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