Altas put cuffs on Chiefs, nab share of 2nd place

Games Friday

(The Arena, San Juan)

12 p.m. – Jose Rizal vs St. Benilde (Srs)

2 p.m. – EAC vs LPU (Srs)

4 p.m. – Letran vs San Sebastian (Srs)

MANILA, Philippines – Perpetual Help shackled Arellano U to its season-worst performance as it hammered out a 76-62 victory Thursday to grab a share of the second spot in the 92nd NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Altas led from start to finish by excelling on both ends of the court, making more than half of their shots while holding down the Chiefs to their lowest scoring output this year since the latter downed the St. Benilde Blazers, 70-59, on June 26.

The Las Pinas-based school had a field day on offense, making 30 of the 59 shots they took with Gab Dagangon, Bright Akhuetie, Daryl Singontiko and Kieth Pido taking turns to finish with 22, 15, 13 and 10, respectively.

But defense spelled the biggest difference for the Altas as they took the Chiefs out of their comfort zone to seal their 10th win against three losses for joint No. 2 with Arellano U.

Coming into the game, Arellano U averaged 85.1 points, second only to San Beda's 86. 2, before running into the Perpetual Help wall.

"It was our defense," said Perpetual Help coach Jimwell Gican, whose team has held down their foes to a league-best 61.6 points, in Filipino.

Gican also heaped praised on Dagangon, who shot nine of 13 from the field including draining a pair of booming triples, for his excellent shotmaking.

"He's the best player of the game hands down," said Gican of Dagangon.

The win also avenged Perpetual Help its 78-83 defeat at the hands of Arellano U on June 26.

Kent Salado and Jio Jalalon spearheaded the Chiefs with 22 and 19 points, respectively, but the Chiefs couldn't get anything out of the rest.

The scores:

PERPETUAL 76 – Dagangon 22, Akhuetie 15, Singontiko 13, Pido 10, Coronel 9, Eze 3, Dizon 2, Gallardo 2, Sadiwa 0, Hao 0, Ylagan 0

ARELLANO 62 – Salado 22, Jalalon 19, Flores 6, Cadavis 6, Holts 4, Meca 2, Villoria 2, Canete 1, Nicholls 0, Enriquez 0, Gumaru 0, Rivera 0

QUARTERSCORES: 18-7, 35-27, 54-48, 76-62