The University of Perpetual Help System DALTA snapped its back-to-back losses at the expense of Emilio Aguinaldo College, 73-67, on Saturday in NCAA Season 100 at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
The Altas improved to 3-2 while the Generals slipped to 2-3.
EAC was trailing 49-42 at the end of the third frame before the Generals had a run and cut the lead to within four, 51-47.
However, the Altas made an 11-0 run to widen their margin. Perpetual eventually had its biggest lead at 70-54 with 2:18 remaining in the fourth quarter before the Las Piñas-based squad sealed the win.
Perpetual head coach Olsen Racela said he asked his wards to put in the effort when they face the Generals, who were coming off a high from defeating San Beda University.
"Sinabi ko lang sa kanila to play for 40 minutes. Medyo inconsistent kami with the way we are playing, especially on the defensive end," Racela said.
"I told them na 'The harder you work, the luckier you get' — 'yun 'yung nakalagay sa board namin. I think 'yung hard work nila paid off today. 'Yung effort defensively was definitely there. It was total team effort talaga. Pati bench namin, quality minutes ang binigay nila."
Rookie Mark Gojo Cruz stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, six assists, five rebounds, three blocks, and two steals, while veteran Christian Pagaran was a rebound shy of a double-double with 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and a steal for Perpetual.
King Gurtiza had 17 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and a steal, while Nico Quinal and Wilmar Oftana had 16 and 15 points, respectively, for EAC.
Perpetual will go against San Sebastian College-Recoletos on Tuesday, while Emilio Aguinaldo College will face Colegio de San Juan de Letran on Wednesday.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
