Axel Doromal and Shane Menina lifted Arellano University to a 61-59 escape of University of Perpetual Help System DALTA, taking their second win in the NCAA Season 98 Seniors Basketball Tournament on Friday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Menina and Doromal outscored the Altas 17-12 in the fourth quarter. They made all but two of the Chiefs’ points in the payoff period.
Down by three, 56-59 with 11 seconds remaining, Kim Aurin was able to snatch the ball coming from an Arellano inbound pass. However, his shot could not find the bottom of the rin.
Menina knocked down two clutch free throws with two ticks left giving them a five-point 61-56 lead. Then Razon knocked down a triple right at the buzzer.
“So we were able to prepare for two days, but good things that the players are adjusting to my system,” said Arellano head coach Cholo Martin. “So, every time we have a defense, we just review, review, review; and luckily naging effective ‘yung defense namin sa Perpetual today – ‘yung 1-2-2 defense. And, then man to man ‘yung later part na.”
Dormal led Arellano with 19 points, three rebounds, and four assists. Meanwhile, Menina finished with 13 markers, six boards and seven dimes.
Both Cade Flores and Danielle Mallari were monsters in the rebounding department with 16 and 13 respectively. The former added eight points, while the latter had nine.
For Perpetual, Aurin’s 27-point outing went to waste. He also added nine boards and three assists to his statline. Mark Omega and Marcus Nitura grabbed 11 and 10 boards, respectively, as well.
Arellano (2-1) will be back on Sunday against Colegio de San Juan de Letran (1-0) at 12:00 NN. Perpetual (1-1), meanwhile, will look to bounce back against College of St. Benilde (1-0) on Tuesday, also at 12:00 NN.
The Scores:
Arellano 61 — Doromal 19, Menina 13, Mallari 9, Flores 8, Abastillas 5, Tolentino 3, Mantua 3, Oliva 1, Oftana 0, Domingo 0, Talampas 0
Perpetual 59 — Aurin 27, Omega 9, Martel 6, Nitura 5, Razon 3, Barcuma 3, Flores 2, Egan 2, Ferreras 2, Orgo 0, Cuevas 0, Boral 0, Roque 0, Nunez 0, Movida 0
Quarterscores: 7-13, 27-24, 42-47, 61-59
