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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Perpetual Help Altas beat Mapua Cardinals, 63-60

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PERPETUAL Help went to AJ Coronel and made key defensive stops in the stretch as it survived the challenge of the Mapua Cardinals, 63-60, yesterday to book its first victory in the 93rd NCAA basketball tournament at the packed Mapua Gym in Intramuros, Manila.

GJ Ylagan and Prince Eze paced the Altas with the former churning out 13 points and the latter ending up with 11 points and 21 rebounds but it was Coronel who took charge in the end when he scored five of his 10 points in the last two minutes to seal their first win after two defeats, the same record by the Cardinals.

Mapua had two chances of knotting the count and forcing overtime but Andoy Estrella and Almel Orquina misfired on their three-point attempts, allowing the Las Pinas-based school to escape with the win.

“He (Coronel) hit the big shots in the end and we made key stops in the dying seconds and those things helped us get the win,” said Perpetual Help assistant coach Jimwell Gican in Filipino.

Leading by as much as 10 points and nine entering the final quarter, 49-40, the Altas fell into a maze errors and allowed the Cardinals to launch a furious fightback that saw the latter seizing a 58-57 lead with a little over two minutes.

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And then Coronel stepped in and hit a layup from the baseline and a huge triple from the left corner to give Perpetual Help a four-point cushion, 62-58, and eventually the win as it hung tough enough to overcome Mapua’s one final comeback.

The Altas seized the initiative early and led, 19-16, at the end of the opening quarter but the turned things around with Andoy Estrella presiding over a run that saw it seize a 23-19 lead.

Despite missing eight of 10 free throws all in the second quarter and 6-11 Nigerian Prince Eze hobbled by foul trouble, Perpetual Help managed to regain control and went into the halftime break ahead, 32-27.

Earlier, defending champion Mapua downed Perpetual Help, 94-74, to join La Salle-Greenhills at the helm with pristine 3-0 (win-loss) records.

Will Gozum led his team with 16 points while Warren Bonifacio did almost everything with 15 points and game-best 21 caroms and four blocks as the Red Robins claimed their third win in row.

The Junior Altas slid to 1-2.

The scores:

Perpetual Help 63 – Ylagan 13, Eze 11, Singontiko 10, Coronel 10, Pido 9, Lucente 8, Dagangon 2, Yuhico 0, Tamayo 0.

Mapua 60 – Gabo 12, Estrella 11, Orquina 10, Victoria 9, Bunag 5, Aguirre 5, Raflores 4, Nieles 4.

Quarter scores: 19-16, 32-27, 49-40, 63-60.

Games today (July 21)

8 a.m.- San Beda vs EAC (jrs)

10 a.m.- JRU vs Letran (jrs)

12 noon- San Beda vs EAC (srs)

2 p.m.- JRU vs Letran (srs)

4 p.m.- LPU vs San Sebastian (srs)

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