EARL SCOTTIE THOMPSON shook off an ice-cold start to help power University of Perpetual Help past Lyceum of the Philippines University, 70-61, for its first victory in the 91st National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) seniors’ basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan on Tuesday.
Thompson, the reigning Most Valuable Player, and Gab Dangangon scored all but two of the Altas’ 16-4 spurt in the final four-and-a-half minutes to pull off the victory. They finished with 12 points apiece.
Perpetual Help Head Coach Aric del Rosario said the weight of parading a deeper lineup this season gave them added pressure.
“Sa totoo lang, ang pressure nasa akin. Lahat ng makita ko, sinasabihan kami na malakas ang team namin. Sabi ko ‘di pa kami nasusubukan, paano ko masasabi na malakas iyan? Pag hindi kami natatalo, malakas na kami,” del Rosario said.
Nigerian center Prince Eze topscored for Perpetual Help with 21 points on an eight-of-12 shooting from the field—he also had 10 rebounds and three blocked shots—while Bright Akhuetie marked his NCAA debut with nine points and 11 rebounds.
Shaquille Oswald Alanes fired a team-high 13 points for Lyceum, which also drew 11 points each from Wilson Baltazar and Jean Nguidjol.
In the juniors division, Lyceum of Cavite beat Perpetual Help, 78-59, behind Generoso Cecilio’s 23 points he amassed on a 10-of-21 shooting from the field in 25 minutes.
La Salle Greenhills routed Letran, 88-49, but the team will possibly face a forfeiture with three of its players allegedly violating the league’s house rule of setting the jersey number limit between 00 to 19.
Jesmar Pedrosa donned the No. 20, Ladis Lepalam No. 27 and Alain Madrigal No. 28. According to league Commissioner Bai Cristobal, no decision has been made on the infraction.
Paolo Rivero, younger brother of Sinag Pilipinas standout Prince, topped all scorers with 35 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot, with Rodney Manuel following suit with 12 markers for La Salle Greenhills.
The Pirates of new Head Coach Topex Robinson jumped the gun on Perpetual, 16-9, early in the contest.
The Altas, however, started to chip away and seize control of the match behind Eze’s timely midrange sniping for a 29-24 lead at halftime.
Image credits: Kevin de la Cruz