San Beda University crawled back from a double-digit deficit to stun University of Perpetual Help System DALTA, 62-60, in NCAA Season 99 on Tuesday.
Jomel Puno scored 12 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the Red Lions, who erased a 14-point ALTAs lead to improve to 5-3 while Perpetual slipped to 3-5.
Peter Alfaro added nine points while Nygel Gonzales and Oliver Tagle added eight apiece for San Beda, which welcomed back head coach Yuri Escueta with a win.
Perpetual led almost entire the first half after Jun Roque dropped 10 of his overall output to help the ALTAs build a 39-28 cushion.
But the Red Lions retaliated in the third period with James Payosing and Tagle powering an 11-4 closing run after going down to a 50-36 hole to cut the deficit to seven, 54-47.
San Beda then retook the lead when Tagle buried a huge triple for a 56-55 advantage before Puno nailed a long bomb to give the Red Lions a 60-58 lead with 2:33 left.
Nitura was called for an offensive foul against Jacob Cortez to give the possession back to San Beda with 55.7 seconds left before Puno’s putback put them in a 62-58 lead.
Nitura trimmed that to 62-60 after completing a fastbreak with 2.8 ticks left before they had the chance to win it following two missed free throws by Alex Visser. Nitura, though, went wide on the last half-court triple attempt.
Perpetual, as a team, could only manage six points in the fourth quarter while San Beda scored 15, with eight of those coming from Puno.
The loss spoiled Nitura’s double-double outing as well as the sophomore lefty churned out 15 markers and 10 boards laced wig four dimes.
The scores:
San Beda 62 - Puno 12, Alfaro 9, Gonzales 8, Tagle 8, Payosing 7, Cortez 6, Andrada 5, Jopia 4, Visser 3, Gallego 0, Cuntapay 0, Royo 0.
Perpetual 60 - Nitura 15, Pagaran 14, Roque 10, Omega 7, Razon 6, Abis 6, Nunez 2, Barcuma 0, Ferreras 0, Boral 0, Orgo 0.
Quarters: 15-21, 28-39, 47-54, 62-60.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
