The University of Perpetual Help System DALTA Altas did not let the debut of their white jerseys go in vain, holding off the San Sebastian College-Recoletos Golden Stags, 68-65, Tuesday evening at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
The close victory is Perpetual’s second straight win while San Sebastian lost its second straight.
“Siyempre masarap sa pakiramdam kasi ang hirap manalo eh,” said skipper GJ Ylagan. “Pinaghirapan namin siyempre so masarap sa pakiramdam.”
And plenty of things led to the downfall of the Golden Stags in the game, as they shot their team-worst 29.87 percent from the field, going just 9-for-19 from the stripe, and being out-rebounded 33-46. But still, San Sebastian were able to keep close with Perpetual, especially in the final frame.
Down by as much as 10 points entering the final frame, San Sebastian buckled down on defense, forcing Perpetual to numerous turnovers, committing 34 errors in total that led to 22 San Sebastian points.
With the defense doing its job, Michael Calisaan did his part on the offensive end, knocking down two jumpers courtesy of a Renzo Navarro find to cut the lead to just three, 57-60, with two minutes left.
“Marami pa rin kaming kulang especailly sa offense namin. Yun ang kailangan namin i-improve, yung offense at yung plays namin,” furthered Ylagan. “Yung defense naman, okay yung defense namin.”
Back-to-back splits on the stripe by AJ Coronel and Keith Pido gave life to the Stags, while another Calisaan bucket cut the lead to just two, 63-64, with 16.2 ticks on the clock.
Fortunately for Perpetual, Ylagan had steady hands at the stripe, knocking all four of his free throws in the last 14.6 seconds of the game to negate a late-triple by Allyn Bulanadi. Ylagan also made a huge stop with 6.2 seconds remaining, challenging Bulanadi’s attempt to knot the game as time expired.
“Wala lang, kailangan ko lang na-ishoot, kailangan i-shoot to kasi pag na-miss ko ito, may chance kaming matalo eh syempre ayaw kong matalo,” recalled Ylagan, who finished the game with 15 points. “At kahit malayo si Bulanadi, alam ko siya yung titira kaya kahit nasa malayo ako, hinabol ko pa rin para at least ma-challenge ko yung tira niya, hindi siya makatira ng madali.”
Prince Eze finished with a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Coronel chipped in 10 markers. Pido filled up the stat sheet as well with six points, five rebounds, and seven assists.
Calisaan paced San Sebastian with 14 points and eight boards while Ryan Costelo and Allyn Bulanadi had 13 and 12 points respectively with the latter shooting a horrid 4-for-20 from the field.
Perpetual Help look to stun the Lyceum Pirates on Friday, August 4, at 2:00pm. San Sebastian, on the other hand, hope to end their skid on the same day against the Mapua Cardinals at 4:00pm.
The Scores:
UPHSD 68 – Ylagan 15, Eze 12, Coronel 10, Yuhico 9, Pido 6, Dagangon 6, Singontiko 5, Sadiwa 3, Lucente 2, Tamayo 0, Mangalino 0.
SSC-R 65 – Calisaan 14, Costelo 13, Bulanadi 12, Ilagan 8, Gayosa 7, David 7, Mercado 3, Navarro 1, Baetiong 0, Baytan 0, Valdez 0, Are 0, Calma 0, Quipse 0.
Quarterscores: 13-14, 30-22, 49-44, 68-65.
