JIOVANI JALALON waxed hot for Arellano University and Earl Thompson did what he does best for Perpetual Help in the 91st National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) seniors’ basketball tournament on Friday at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
Jalalon, still nursing a shoulder injury sustained during his stint with Sinag Pilipinas in the Singapore 28th Southeast Asian Games, scored 20 points and made 12 assists, six rebounds and four steals to help lift the Chiefs past the Lyceum of the Philippines Pirates, 80-78.
Thompson, on the other hand, played like a true Most Valuable Player, and together with Bright Akhuetie, propelled the Altas over the College of Saint Benilde Blazers, 77-69.
Akhuetie scored an NCAA career-high of 44 points that went with 19 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.
Thompson complemented Akhuetie’s explosive performance by quietly contributing 14 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and three steals for the Altas.
Third-year shooter Zach Nicholls tallied 16 points—including five treys—and grabbed six rebounds, while Michael Salado contributed 10 points to help the Chiefs notch their first win of the season.
“Sobrang nakaka-drain panoorin ang game namin. It was a big lead we had, tapos nakita ko ‘yung rally ng Lyceum bigla. Nagwi-wish na ako na sana maka-first win muna para ma-break ‘yung ice,” Arellano University Coach Jerry Codiñera said.
“We were able to manage the endgame rally ng Lyceum. It’s a big win for us, lalo na para sa mga bagong players namin,” Codiñera added.
In the juniors division, La Salle Greenhills (LSGH) bounced back after forfeiting its first victory of the season—for violating the jersey-numbers rule—by hammering University of Perpetual Help, 87-62. Paolo Rivero again topped all scorers with 22 points on top of nine rebounds and five steals.
Earlier in the day, Arellano High School sent Lyceum Cavite crashing back to earth, 97-88. Guilmer de la Torre fired 25 points on 10-for-22 shooting in 26 minutes to lead the Braves.
The Braves joined idle San Beda on top of the standings with a 2-0 (won-lost) record, with Lyceum Cavite and LSGH toting identical 1-1 marks and Perpetual falling to 0-2.
Image credits: KEVIN DE LA CRUZ