University of Perpetual Help System DALTA completed its astonishing come-from-behind victory over La Salle Green Hills, 82-77 in the NCAA Season 98 Juniors Basketball Tournament on Friday at Emilio Aguinaldo College Gymnasium.
The Junior Altas clawed from the competition after being down by 23, 19-42 in the middle mark of the second canto thanks to a 32-8 run capped by Amiel Acido’s corner triple in the third to get the 51-50 advantage.
La Salle wasn’t able to take the lead back after the absurd Perpetual run.
“Dun sa lamang na malaki nila, ang pinakita ng mga bata puso eh,” said Perpetual head coach Gerald Dizon.
“Alam naman natin na yung La Salle Greenhills maraming Gilas players yan, talagang malakas yan. Ang sabi ko lang kaya natin talunin maniwala lang kayo sa sarili niyo. Yun yung pinakita ng mga bata. Hindi sila nag doubt sa sarili nila. Bagkus, pinaniwalaan nila sarili nila,” he continued.
Leading the comeback was Acido with a monster 19 points and 18 rebounds performance. Manuel Pablo led the luckless Greenies with 20 markers and 17 boards while Seven Gagate added 12 points and 16 rebounds.
In the first game, Lyceum of the Philippines University bounced back from its heartbreaking opening day loss at the expense of Emilio Aguinaldo College, 89-79 in the opening bout of the day.
All knotted at 58 right before ending the third, the Junior Pirates rallied a 19-5 run to get the 77-63 lead to blow the game wide open.
“First game namin medyo marami pang adjustments. Yung mga kulang namin nung first game, trinabaho namin siya nitong practice namin yesterday. Basta bigay lang namin yung best namin palagi, bahala na yung resulta,” said Lyceum head tactician JC Docto.
Matthew Rubico led the Junior Pirates with a double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds, including two blocks. Janray Castillio’s 28-point performance for the Brigadiers went for naught.
LPU improved to 1-1, while EAC remained winless.
Meanwhile, Mapua University used a second-half surge to beat Jose Rizal University 76-62 to score its second win.
After being down by six, 36-42 to end the first half, the Red Robins locked down the Light Bombers, limiting them to only four points the entire third quarter.
“Ang sinabi ko lang sa kanila medyo tight kami nung first half, kailangan mag stick kami dun sa sistema. Kailangan maglaro kami as a team, kailangan bigyan namin ng extra effort yung depensa namin,” said Mapua head coach Yong Garcia.
The Red Robins dominated the bench points category 38-18 after a balanced scoring effort.
Nicolo Mulingtapang and Aki Valiña both had 12 apiece, with the former adding five rebounds and an assist, while the latter added five dimes and a board.
Jhunehl Discutodo led JRU with 22 points.
The scores:
First Game
LPU (89) — Rubico 25, Mulligan 15, Fuentes 14, Zi. Espinas 11, Matienzo 6, Villa 6, Pariñas 4, Mondia 4, Mointilla 2, Lobos 2, Torres 0, Zy. Espinas 0, Nodalo 0.
EAC (78) — Castillo 28, Bautista 22, Dispo 8, Villanueva 8, Dungo 4, Falsado 4, Bonafe 2, Tecson 2, Bailon 0, Mariquit 0, Balan 0, Tenorio 0.
Quarterscores: 26-23, 48-36, 72-60, 89-78
Second Game
Perpetual (82) — Acido 19, Ngo 14, Vergara 13, Daep 11, Montero 11, Pagulayan 4, Montemayor 4, Baldoria 2, Canlas 2, Mascariñas 2, De Aia 0, Callangan 0.
Benilde-LSGH (77) — Pablo 20, Gagate 12, Ison 11, Gomez 10, Alian 8, S. Romero 8, Mesias 6, Hachuela 2, Muyuela 0, Rivero 0, Villaver 0.
Quarterscores: 17-26, 39-48, 61-59, 82-77
Third Game
Mapua (76) — Mulingtapang 12, Valiña 12, Coronel 11, Masiglat 10, Rodriguez 9, Morenos 7, Agemenyi 7, Gonzales 3, Salvador 3, G. Dayrit 2, Go 0, Santos 0, J. Dayrit 0, Manuel 0.
JRU (62) — Discutido 22, Enal 14, Guarino 13, Ilio 4, Mina 4 Mina 4, De Leon 3, Marin 2, Lozano 0, Pineda 0, Anglo, Mendoza 0, Capistrano 0, Satparam
0.
Quarterscores: 24-26, 36-42, 58-46, 76-62
