Diego de la Paz | FCF
Perpetual Help and Benilde gained respective victories in Monday night’s NCAA seniors basketball action at The Arena in San Juan City.
But both squads had to earn their wins the hard way.
University of Perpetual Help survived a late-game onlslaught by Arellano University to score an 82-80 result in the first game.
Led by the offensive explosion of Nick Omorogbe, who finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists, the Altas (8-2) extend their winning run to three and forge a tie with San Beda College in second place.
Harold Arboleda, who recovered Omorogbe’s airball from beyond the arc and nailed the game-deciding free throws with 6.3 seconds left, scored nine points with five rebounds.
But the biggest surprise of the match has been the return of the impressive play of the oft-injured Earl Thompson, who scored 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field.
“Lahat ng game mahirap. Pero kailangan ng ganung sitwasyon, kasi baka sakaling makaabot kami sa top four at masanay na kami sa ganung mga kalaban na hindi bumibitaw,” noted Perpetual Help mentor Aric del Rosario.
“Alam natin na konti lang ang beterano. Maganda rin na napapatapang natin,” added the multi-titled veteran mentor.
The struggling Chiefs (3-7), who are still feeling the sting of losing top playmaker and scorer James Forrester as he is still serving his two-game suspension mandated by the league, were led by the 17 points and eight rebounds output of ex-NCAA juniors MVP Keith Agovida.
Diego de la Paz | FCF
On the other hand, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde managed to wrest away the demons of their two-point overtime loss to Jose Rizal University in the first round via a 57-55 victory in the twinbill’s nightcap.
Despite missing the services of rookie swingman Fons Saavedra, who injured his right ankle during practice, the Blazers managed to squeeze out a total team effort led by captain Mark Romero.
Romero, who played all but one minute during the entire contest, topped all Blazers with 15 points and six rebounds. Robert Bartolo, Jonathan Grey and Dexter Garcia each added eight points.
“Slowly it’s getting to (the players’) mind(s) how to play, especially on the defensive end,” said Benilde head coach Gabby Velasco.
“We had a bad start. I pointed out our mistakes and buti na lang nakapag-adjust,” added the rookie NCAA mentor.
Philip Paniamogan finished with 19 points to lead all Bombers, while Paolo Pontejos was blanked in 13 minutes of action.
