MANILA, Philippines – Hanging by a thread in the race for a final four, Perpetual Help turned to its hotshooting marksman as it compromised College of St. Benilde’s own bid with a 63-57 win Friday at the 87th NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Although it took Jet Vidal 17 attempts – he nailed three crucial treys in the telling fourth quarter that propelled the Altas to only its second win of the season, and pulled the Blazers down along with them in the standings.
But Perpetual head coach Jimwell Gican, though, remained realistic about his squad’s chances of making it to the final four.
“We don’t think about it anymore [about making it], basta may laro, lalaban lang kami [as long as there’s a game, we’ll just play],” said Gican, as Perpetual Help, even with the win, stayed in the last spot.
Vidal finished with a team-best 19 points, 13 in the fourth quarter as he knocked down a booming triple which gave the Altas a safe seven-point advantage over the pressed for luck Blazers with a little over a minute.
“He [Vidal] is our only legitimate trigger man and I just told him to do his job in the team,” said Gican.
Justine Alano and Anthony Paulino added 10 points and 10 rebounds each for Perpetual Help, who held St. Benilde to just one field goal in the last six minutes of the game.
The Altas also showed relentlessness in crashing the boards and posted glaring 20-8 advantage in the offensive rebounding, which gave them countless scoring chances per possession ending in Vidal’s treys.
After diminutive scorer Luis Sinco traded three-point baskets will Vidal midway the fourth quarter, which gave the Blazers heir last lead, 50-45, the entire squad hit a dry spell.
Flashy guard Carlo Lastimosa, who gave St. Benilde a 29-20 buffer in the second quarter, only managed three points in the final stretch while output from rookie Jonathan Grey came too late with under 30 ticks left.
The Blazers, hoping to finally crash into the finally four, dropped to 4-7 and a crucial half a game behind fourth-place Lyceum, who is still playing Jose Rizal University at press time.