MANILA, Philippines—Game on the line, clock winding down, Jett Vidal knew only one thing as he released the ball: “Pagbitaw ko pa lang, alam ko papasok na.”
Indeed, it went in as his clutch efforts pushed the Altas past St. Benilde, 78-74, Monday night in the NCAA Season 88 at the Arena in San Juan city.
The win was as big as Vidal’s shot with Perpetual Help keeping in step with fellow league-leaders with a 7-3 record that tied San Sebastian and JRU in second place behind first-placer San Beda.
“The most important thing is to not lose against the teams below,” said Perpetual head coach Aric del Rosario, who once steered University of Santo Tomas to four straight titles in the UAAP.
The Altas almost lost to the struggling Blazers as they squandered a 16-point lead, 67-51, with 8:58 left.
“I told them not to be careless despite having a big lead,” said Del Rosario.
In spite of it, CSB managed to pull to within a point, 72-73, before Vidal bailed Perpetual out anew.
“Sabi ko sa kaniya ikaw ang beterano, ikaw ang aasahan ko,” Del Rosario said of Vidal, whose two free throws sealed the win.
Carlo Lastimosa returned and almost single-handedly kept the Blazers alive. He drove fearlessly against Perpetual’s bigs and most of the time, he succeeded en route to a game-high 23 points.
Juan Taha added 14 markers, including two free throws that made it a one-point game near the last minute mark.
CSB dropped to 3-7.