Desperate for a win, the Gilas Pilipinas Cadets were able to gather themselves late to escape a game University of Perpetual Help System DALTA Altas, 72-63, Wednesday evening at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
This is Gilas’ first win in four tries in Group A of the Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup presented by Chooks-to-Go.
“It makes us breathe for a while after three straight losses against three champion teams, diba?” admitted Cadets head coach Jong Uichico.
Isaac Go made his debut for Gilas. Though he finished with nine points, the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagle made his presence felt on the defensive end, limiting Prince Eze to just 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting.
“Isaac Go really played well today,” remarked Uichico.
With the paint secured, it was up to the rest of the Cadets to step up on the offensive end.
Gilas were up 65-57 with 4:05 left before the Altas tried to pull off a comeback. A split on the stripe by Kim Aurin sparked a 6-0 run by Perpetual, which was capped by a triple by the same player.
“It’s not fair naman to blame the players and the coach. They did not have enough time to get together you know,” added Uichico. “This is just chemistry building among the players. Of course we want to win but our goal naman is to get them to learn to play together.”
Behind the floor generalship of Juan Gomez de Liano, Gilas stayed composed, unlike in their last three games. He was able to locate his teammates in the final 1:28 of the game to give Gilas enough cushion to close out the game.
De Liano finished with nine points and nine assists, while Kenneth Tuffin knocked down five triples for 17 markers.
Aurin paced Perpetual with 21 points.
The Scores:
Gilas 72 – Tuffin 17, Gomez de Liano 9, Go 9, Tolentino 8, Mocon 6, Rivero R. 5, Alejandro 5, Tamayo 5, Tratter 5, Paras 2, Rivero P. 2, Tolentino 0.
UPHSD 63 – Aurin 21, Peralta 13, Eze 10, Coronel 6, Sese 5, Charcos 3, Pido 3, Soriano 2, Mangalino 0, Pasia 0, Peralta 0.
Quarterscores: 16-15, 38-37, 51-51, 72-63.
