University of Perpetual Help System Dalta booked the first ticket to the Final Four after beating Letran College, 94-88, in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 99 juniors basketball tournament yesterday at the Filoil EcoOil Center in San Juan.
Most Valuable Player frontrunner Amiel Acido was at his best while Mark Gojo Cruz, JD Pagulayan and LeBron Daep made significant contributions to the Junior Altas, who will make a return to the next round for the first time since 2010 under head coach Tonichi Pujante with Gelo Alolino, Joseph Ariobu and Chester Saldua as players.
Acido flirted with a double-double performance with 27 points and eight rebounds while Cruz fired 17 markers, eight rebounds and four assists for the Las Piñas-based dribblers.
Pagulayan finished with 14 points with four three-pointers in the first half while Daep contributed 11 points and eight rebounds to underscore Perpetual’s balanced offensive attack.
With Anton Tamayo as manager, the Junior Altas were comfortably ahead when Jovel Baliling dropped four straight three-pointers to slash the 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter. But Regie Ayon converted his charities to restore order and hike the margin to six with only 20 seconds remaining.
Perpetual still has a game left against San Sebastian College on Sunday for a victory that has the twice-to-beat incentive in the playoffs at stake.
