UNIVERSITY of Perpetual Help kept its poise in overtime to foil a gritty San Sebastian College side, 85-77, and keep its Final Four bid within range in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 94 seniors basketball tournament on Thursday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Down five points with less than two minutes remaining, Jelo Razon scored on a lay-up and Edgar Charcos completed a three-point play to forge a 69-all count in regulation.
In extra time, Jeffrey Coronel and Rey Peralta drained back-to-back triples to spark a 12-2 assault that doused the Stags’ attempt to pull off a surprise.
Prince Eze had another mammoth game of 25 points, 23 rebounds and four blocks, while Coronel, Razon and Charcos added 15, 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The victory was the 10th against five losses for the Atlas. They trail the Lyceum Pirates (14-1), San Beda Red Lions (13-1) and Letran Knights (10-4).
“It showed the character of our players. It boils down to proper execution,” Perpetual Head Coach Frankie Lim said. “We are just lucky to come back from five points down in the last two minutes.”
Perpetual Help limited San Sebastian to only nine points in the first quarter as the Stags had a hard time finding their groove and shot a measly 9-of-41 before the half.
Michael Calisaan and RK Ilagan commandeered a 10-0 blitz to make it 62-57 with three minutes left.
But the Altas, behind Eze and Charcos, killed all of the Stags’ hopes in reversing the outcome.
Alvin Capobres had 18 points and three steals, while Ilagan added 16 points built around four triples for the Stags, who took their 11th loss in 15 games.