By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter
WHAT was a roller-coaster ride in the opening round of Season 94 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for the Arellano Chiefs swung to a win in the end after they ended their first-round assignment with a 76-72 victory over the Perpetual Help Altas on Tuesday at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Had it slow to start the contest, the Legarda-based Chiefs used a strong effort in the middle quarters to make the game close in the end and did enough of a push to pull off the win, their fourth as opposed to five defeats midway into the tournament.
Arellano struggled to get its offense going in the opening quarter, trailing 19-8 at the end of the first 10 minutes.
It, however, would find its mark in the second and third frames, outscoring the Altas, 43-34, to narrow its deficit to just two points, 53-51, heading into the final quarter.
In the fourth, both teams had it back-and-forth, fighting to a levelled count, 67-all, with less than four minutes to play.
A three-pointer by Arellano guard Levi Dela Cruz broke the tie, 70-67, with three minutes to go.
Perpetual Help tried to claw its way back and was rewarded for it when Rey Peralta drained a triple of his own to tie the knot at 70-all at the 1:22 mark.
The tie was short-lived though as nine seconds later Maui Sera Josef handed the lead back to the Chiefs, 72-70, with a bucket inside the paint.
Arellano forced Perpetual Help to a passing error moments later, leading the latter to commit a foul on Adrian Alban.
But Alban opened a window for the Altas when he split his free throws for a 73-70 count with 24 ticks to go.
Jasper Cuevas immediately answered for Perpetual Help with a breakaway layup to come within a point, 73-72, with 18 seconds left.
The Altas attempted to steal the ball from the Chiefs off an inbound play but instead was forced to foul Kraniel Villoria when they failed to.
Villoria calmly sank both his charities to give his team more breathing room, 75-72, with 15 seconds remaining on the clock.
Perpetual Help attempted to go to its big man Prince Eze to come closer as time wound up but could not complete a pass amid a tight defense from Arellano, sealing the win for the Chiefs.
Villoria led Arellano with 15 points, followed by Sera Josef with 14 and Dela Cruz with 12.
Eze, meanwhile, paced Perpetual Help (5-4) with 22 points and 25 rebounds while AJ Coronel added 12 points.
“This was a big win for us after a tough loss we had last time around against San Beda. After that game, the players were down as their pride was hurt. This was a good rebound for us as we end the first round,” said Arellano coach Jerry Codinera, referring to their 98-79 loss to the San Beda Red Lions on Aug. 24 where star guard Robert Bolick scored 50 points for the defending champions in the win.
“We had a slow start in this game (against Perpetual Help) but good thing we came back and kept our focus,” he added.
