University of Perpetual Help refused to quit, rallying from a 19-point deficit to hammer a heart-stopping 91-90 win over Letran College in Game 2 of their National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 99 juniors basketball tournament best-of-three finals series yesterday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
Newly-crowned Most Valuable Player Amiel Acido lived up to the hype as he knocked down a cold-blooded three-pointer in the final 53.8 seconds to give the Junior Altas a slim, 91-90, lead before hanging tough in the final stretch after fighting back from a 38-57 deficit in the first half.
Alex Gazzingan had the chance to give the Squires the lead but he bricked his three-pointer in the final 29.2 seconds while Syrex Silorio muffed his charities off a foul by JD Pagulayan in the last 4.3 seconds, setting the stage for a sudden-death encounter on Saturday at the same San Juan City venue.
Pagulayan nailed a double-double performance of 23 points and 10 rebounds while Acido had 19 markers and Mark Gojo Cruz delivered 16 points and seven rebounds for the Junior Altas, who kept their dream of winning their breakthrough juniors title alive after being torched by George Manalili with 35 points in their 80-97 loss in Game 1 last Saturday.
Prior to tip-off, Acido made history as he emerged as the first Perpetual player to win the MVP award in the juniors division.
After leading the Junior Altas to a commanding 8-1 win-loss card in the eliminations, Acido piled up 57.22 player average value to win the highest individual award.
Joining Acido in the Mythical squad are teammates LeBron Daep and Cruz as well as George Diamante of Letran and EJ Castillo of Emilio Aguinaldo College.
Acido also spearheaded the league’s Defensive Team together with Daep, Diamante, and Paul Enal and Martin Pineda of Jose Rizal University.
Enal emerged as the Defensive Player of the Year while Cruz took home the Rookie of the Year plum and Castillo the Most Improved Player of the Year honors.
Lyceum of the Philippines University round out the list of special awardees as it bagged the Sportsmanship Award.
Meanwhile, Mapua University ended its campaign on a high note as it escaped San Sebastian College-Recoletos, 64-62, in the bronze medal match.
After forging a deadlock at 59, the Red Robins scored five straight points laced with a pair of free throws from Sean Salvador in the final 13 seconds to post a five-point lead, 64-59.
Then, Ruvic Danag knocked down a crucial three-pointer to put the Staglets closely behind, 62-64, with only 11 ticks left.
But the San Sebastian rally fell short as it failed to come up with any crucial stops in the dying seconds, allowing the Red Robins to run away with the victory.
Salvador came up big drilling 21 points, four rebounds and two assists while Aki Valina got 13 points behind a 5-of-8 shooting clip for the Red Robins.
Danag, meanwhile, tallied 17 points while Ben Jimenez had a double-double output of 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Staglets, who lost to Letran in the Final Four.
