Games Thursday
(Filoil EcoOil Arena)
2 p.m. — AU vs San Beda
4 p.m. — SSC-R vs JRU

UNIVERSITY of Perpetual Help (UPHSD) woke up from a deep three-quarter slumber and blitzed Collegio San Juan de Letran in the final period to hammer out a 73-61 victory yesterday that catapulted it back into NCAA Season 99 Final Four contention at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.

Playing catch up most of the game, the Altas shut down the Knights in the last canto when the former utterly outgunned and outplayed the latter, 24-6, in snatching a fourth win in 10 games and lighting up their flickering Final Four aspiration.

It also capped a shock two-game season sweep by UPHSD, which won the first one, 74-59, last Oct. 15.

Marcus Nitura, Art Roque and team captain Jelo Razon were on their elements with 17, 16 and 13 points, respectively, while John Abis and Angelo Gelsano stepped up big in lieu of a hurting starting big man Mark Omega.

Mr. Abis pulled down a monster 16-rebound effort on top of seven points and two blocks while Mr. Gelsano, a rookie, poured in eight of his 10 points in that fourth quarter breakaway.

That sent the Knights sprawling straight to the bottom after suffering their ninth setback against a lone win.

It was an astounding defensive effort for UPHSD, which had 17 steals that resulted to a difference-making 21 points off turnovers by Letran.

Mr. Saguiguit it was his halftime call to his wards to keep the fire burning that helped wake them up.

While praising their defense, Mr. Saguiguit chided his players for their woeful shooting where they missed 58 of the 88 shots they took including 19 of 21 from beyond the arc. — Joey Villar

The scores:

First Game

UPHSD 73- Nitura 17, Roque 16, Razon 13, Gelsano 10, Pagaran 8, Abis 7, Orgo 2, Barcuma 0, Nunez 0, Ferreras 0, Omega 0, Boral 0

Letran 61- Javillonar 14, Cuajao 11, Garupil 10, Ariar 7, Reyson 7, Santos 6, Monje 6, Nunag 0, Go 0, Bautista 0, Bojorcelo 0

Quarterscores: 16-25; 36-41; 49-55; 73-61

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR