University of Perpetual Help System Dalta kept its hopes alive of making it to the play-in stage following a 72-69 squeaker over Lyceum of the Philippines University in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament Sunday at the La Salle Greenhills Gym.
Veterans Kim Aurin and Jielo Razon produced key lay-ups down the stretch as the Altas chalked up their third win in eight games.
Aurin, who finished with 22 points and five rebounds, simply wanted to extended his collegiate career and help Perpetual return to the Final Four after missing the bus in 2019.
“Ayaw naming sayangin ang opportunity na ito,” said Aurin. “Ang nagmo-motivate sa akin ‘yung pamilya ko, ‘yung players and coaches. Ayaw naming matalo talaga.”
Staving off early vacation, Perpetual hopes to hurdle its final elimination match against Emilio Aguinaldo College on Friday, giving coach Myk Saguiguit more time to plot in a game which he considered as do-or-die.
“Magandang pahinga then trabaho talaga. Malaking trabaho ang EAC. Hindi magpapatalo iyon kasi whoever wins, papasok sa play-in. Iyon ang stake,” said Saguiguit.
The play-in round, which involves teams ranked third to sixth teams after the single-round eliminations, will determine the two other Final Four qualifiers.
The rebuilding Pirates will miss the Final Four for the first time since 2016.
