Perpetual Help returns to Final Four with EAC loss

It is indeed the dawn of a new era for Colegio de San Juan de Letran, as they barge in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) seniors basketball tournament semifinal round.

The 16-time champions, now coached by Caloy Garcia, escaped De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in overtime, 95-89, at The Arena in San Juan City on Saturday to oust the season hosts in yet another heartbreaking finish.

“I don’t know if I told the players that I had only ten wins in three years of previously coaching in the NCAA, but it’s not me, it’s the boys who want to prove something, at hindi naman ako napahiya,” said the former Benilde head coach.

It was heartbreaking especially that the Blazers, who were playing without second leading scorer Paolo Taha due to an elbow injury, led by as much as 14, 42-28, in the first half due to excellent motion offense and volume scoring by Mark Romero, Dexter Garcia, and Jonathan Grey.

The Knights, who managed to inch closer in the third quarter but were down by eight in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter, fired ten straight points coming in the final minute of the game through old-fashioned pressure defense with rookie Rey Nambatac and team captain Mark Cruz scoring baskets after baskets off turnovers.

Letran then scored the go-ahead basket off a pull-up jumper by Nambatac against the defense of Dexter Garcia for an 82-80 lead in the last minute.

Desperate to save the team from ouster, Romero scored off a putback from his own miss to tie the game at 82-82 with 28 seconds left. In the ensuing, Cruz missed a one-on-one jumper, sending the game to overtime.

In the extended period, a clutch pull-up jumper by Cruz against the much taller Romero and a putback by leading most valuable candidate Raymond Almazan extended the lead to four, 90-86, with 42 seconds left.

Almazan then dominated the shaded lane in Benilde’s court and with Letran’s defensive stoppers manning the wings, the Blazers were forced to take desperation shots to no avail as Cruz and Nambatac sealed the win by making their free throws.

“The players just showed up in the endgame. We started the game na malambot kami defensively but when we began to play tough defense, we showed our real character,” Garcia, who previously coached the Blazers from 2006 to 2008, said after the game.

“Hirap talaga kami pag slow start at dun kami natatalo, kaya minomotivate ko lang sila, yung mga teammates ko, na galingan namin on defense kasi yun talaga ang strength naming,” commented Cruz, who led his team with 19 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists.

The Knights, now at solo second place at 12-3, were also led by Nambatac with 17 points and a five-of-six shooting from two-point range, and Almazan with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

The 5-10 Blazers were led by Romero with 19 points and 14 rebounds.

In the first game, John Pinto sank his second game-winning basket for the season as Arellano University keeps their hopes alive for a Final Four berth by escaping Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC), 71-70.

As such, EAC’s eighth loss (8-8) meant the re-entry of University of Perpetual Help (11-5) in the Final Four.

Pinto, reminiscent of his second-round game against Lyceum, sank an off-balanced jumper against the 6’7” Cedric Noube Happi with 40 seconds left in the game for a 71-69 lead.

The Chiefs held on defensively in the remaining seconds and found a much-needed break after point guard John Tayongtong, the hero of EAC’s win against Benilde, split his free throws with nine seconds left.

Arellano, led by Pinto with 18 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists, are now at 6-9 while the Generals, led by Jan Jamon with 21 points, are now at two games behind San Sebastian College-Recoletos.