Perpetual Help’s Bright Akhuetie. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Perpetual Help cranked up the defensive intensity and set College of St. Benilde to an all-time scoring low in the Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup, 59-41, Friday at San Juan Arena.
With the win, the Altas finished the eliminations at 5-2 to advance to the quarterfinals of the offseason tournament, ousting San Sebastian in the process.
College of St. Benilde attempted 54 shots and made only 14 for a paltry 26 percent shooting from the field, tying the lowest scoring output in the 10-year tournament.
The other 41-point game also belonged to the Blazers against San Beda in 2012.
On the brink of elimination and amid a two-game losing streak, Altas coach Nosa Omorogbe knew he had to motivate his players and good thing his message was answered with a defensive masterpiece in the floor.
“After we lost two straight games, I made these guys realize that we are a much better team than when we played in the last two games, I tried to psyche them up to make them believe we’re not just a good team, we are a great team,” said Omorogbe. “I said we just try to see how we can defend these guys so badly so we can cut down their points and the players came down to execute.”
Perpetual limited Benilde to just six points in the first quarter while the Altas put up 20.
The Altas also outscored the Blazers 17-7 in the final period.
Bright Akhuetie led Perpetual with 19 points and 12 rebounds while Gab Daganon and Jeffrey Coronel added 15 and 11 points, respectively.
No Blazer scored in double figures with JJ Domingo the closest with nine points while Yankee Haruna had seven points and 11 boards.