Jeff Egan waxed hot, steering University of Perpetual Help System DALTA to an 87-79 win over Arellano University in the NCAA Season 97 seniors basketball tournament, Wednesday at La Salle Greenhills’ St. Benilde Gym in Mandaluyong City.
The Perpetual captain ended with a career-high 26 points on a 10-of-15 shooting clip, three-of-five coming from behind the arc. He also grabbed four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
The Chiefs went toe-to-toe with the Altas to start of the game, but Egan and Jielo Razon had other plans as they exploded in the second and third quarters, mostly exploiting the time Justin Arana went to the bench.
Without the big man holding Arellano’s fort, Perpetual turned up the pace resulting in 25 fastbreak points for the Altas throughout the game.
“Yun talaga yung gameplan namin going into this game against Arellano,” said Perpetual head coach Myk Saguiguit. “Sabi ko sa kanila , ‘Takbuhan natin sila.’ Tulad nga ng tingin niyo sa kanila, conditioned. Diyan talaga kami namuhunan, run and gun. Luckily, nagawa nila kanina.”
Axel Doromal and Arana cut the deficit to 16, 41-57, with 3:33 left in the third period forcing Saguiguit to sue for time.
And that was all the Altas needed to pull away for the win.
Razon extended their lead to as high as 22 with a putback of his own miss, 63-41, virtually stuffing the fight out of Arellano even with 10 minutes still left to play.
Razon finished with 14 points despite shooting just 37.5-percent, adding to four rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Kim Aurin chipped in 11 markers, two rebounds, two assists, and four blocks.
Arana pulled off another double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds. The center also added one steal and two blocks.
Kalen Doromal added 12 points, three rebounds, seven steals, and one block, while Maui Cruz had 12 markers and five boards.
The Altas climbed up to 2-2, while the Chiefs slid down to 1-3.
Perpetual will test their mettle against the College of Saint Benilde (3-1) on April 9 at 12 NN. Meanwhile, Arellano will look to pick themselves up when they face Mapua University (3-0) on April 10 at 12 NN.
The Scores:
Perpetual 87 – Egan 26, Razon 14, Aurin 11, Barcuma 10, Omega 6, Martel 6, Pagaran 4, Cuevas 3, Kawamura 3, Sevilla 2, Nunez 2, Abis 0, Boral 0, Movida 0.
Arellano 70 – Arana 14, Doromal 12, Caballero 12, Cruz 12, Sta. Ana 7, Concepcion 4, Oliva 2, Abastillas 2, Steinl 2, Carandang 2, Sablan 1, Uri 0, Valencia 0.
Quarterscores: 20-17, 43-27, 66-47, 87-70.
