University of Perpetual Help System DALTA made sure there was no endgame woes this time, pulling off a wire-to-wire 71-61 win over Colegio de San Juan de Letran to arrest its skid in the NCAA Season 100 on Sunday.
The ALTAs ended a string of four narrow losses—which started with a triple overtime loss to the same foes— to improve to 5-6 behind the leadership of Christian Pagaran.
The veteran guard poured in 19 points, alongside five rebounds, two assists, and one block to help the ALTAs avoid another meltdown, which has cost them those four losses against Letran, LPU, San Beda, and EAC.
The Knights, meanwhile, absorbed their second straight defeat to fall to 6-5.
“Masaya kami kasi ‘yung mga last games namin ang sakit kasi dikit lang ‘yun, dapat nga sa amin na ‘yun eh,” Pagaran said.
“Sabi kasi ni Coach Olsen na sa Letran kasi nagsimula ‘yung mga talo namin kaya kailangan mag-bounce back kami.”
Perpetual led by as many as 17 in the first half and all the wards of head coach Olsen Racela needed to do was to take care of it.
They did the job, but not without a scare from the equally hungry Knights.
Kobe Monje, who saw a scoreless first half outing, caught fire in the third and converted five straight points to pull Letran to within five, 49-44. But Pagaran and rookie Mark Gojo Cruz provided the needed answers as the ALTAs headed to the fourth enjoying a 59-48 cushionz
Jimboy Estrada then retaliated, sinking four straight freebies to trim the deficit to 13 to keep the fight for the Knights.
But the star transferee was whistled for a technical foul, resulting in his ejection after he was already called for an unsportmanlike foul early on.
That spelled the difference in the endgame as Perpetual capitalized on the depleted Letran roster to cruise to its fifth win in 11 outings.
Gojo Cruz was also big for Perpetual, churning out 15 points, six rebounds, two assists and one block while John Abis and Shawn Orgo chipped in eight markers apiece.
Estrada, despite the mishaps, still top-scored Letran with a double-double of 14 points and10 assists while Nat Montecillo posted 11 markers and six rebounds.
Scores:
Perpetual 71 – Pagaran 19, Gojo Cruz 15, Abis 8, Orgo 8, Pizarro 6, Boral 5, Manuel 4, Montemayor 3, Gelsano 2, Nuñez 1.
Letran 61 – Estrada 14, Montecillo 11, Santos 10, Cuajao 8, Monje 7, Javillonar 4, Delfino 3, Nunag 2, Go 2, Miller 0, Baliling 0, Tagotongan 0.
Quarters: 22-13, 41-31, 59-48, 71-61.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
