The Perpetual Help Altas bounced back from their opening-night loss to the Letran Knights, fending off the EAC Generals, 83-72, to secure their first win of the NCAA Season 102 Men’s Basketball Tournament on Thursday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan. The Altas improved to 1-1, while the Generals dropped to 0-1.
Perpetual led by as many as nine in the first half before EAC mounted a second-half comeback, cutting a double-digit deficit down to one, 55-54, on a 9-0 run sparked by EJ Castillo. JM Tulabut answered with a triple to push Perpetual back ahead, 58-54, entering the fourth.
Perpetual Closes Out in Style
The Altas came out hot in the final period, unleashing a 17-7 run capped by a Mark Gojo Cruz layup for a 75-64 lead with under five minutes left. EAC made one more push—a Kyle Ochavo three followed by a Joseph Nunag steal-and-layup trimmed the gap to seven, 79-72, with two minutes remaining—but Cruz nailed the door shut with a short stab, putting Perpetual up for good at 81-72 with 1:47 to play. Consecutive layups from Cruz and Angelo Gelsano sealed it.
“Nagpe-prepare kami na lahat ng games na ilalaban namin ay dikitan talaga,” said Cruz, who finished with 15 points, six assists, and four rebounds, bouncing back from an eight-point, foul-out performance in the opener. “Thankful kami na kung ano ‘yong tina-trabaho namin sa practice, nagawa namin sa crunch time.”
Composure Was Crucial, Says Coach
Coach Olsen Racela credited his team’s composure. “I think composure in the end game was the difference,” he said. “Today, we had control of the game in the second half, and noong first game kasi, naghahabol kami.”
Gelsano led all scorers with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double. Casinillo added 16, while Tulabut and Maglupay scored 15 and 11, respectively. Castillo paced EAC, which lost 13 players in the offseason, with 19 points, while Harvae Raymundo added 17.
The teams had met earlier this month in the Pinoyliga Collegiate Cup finals, where Perpetual escaped with a 64-63 win.
Perpetual faces the San Sebastian Stags on Monday, while EAC takes on the Arellano Chiefs on Tuesday, both at Philsports Arena in Pasig.
