Altas pound Stags in OT

MANILA, Philippines — Perpetual Help rallied from five points down late in regulation play, then outgunned San Sebastian in overtime to hammer out an 85-77 victory and enhance its Final Four bid in the 94th NCAA basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Cent in San Juan yesterday.

Trailing 64-69 with a little over a minute left in regulation, Jelo Razon scored in transition play and Edgar Charcos completed a three-play to force the extra period where the Altas remained in control to secure a fifth straight win and 10th overall against five defeats.

“It shows a lot of character on the part of my players. It boils down to proper execution of our plays like looking for Prince underneath and Charcos made the much-needed three-point play,” said Perpetual Help coach Frankie Lim.

Prince Eze played without relief and powered his way to game highs of 25 points, 23 rebounds and four blocks as the Altas firmed up their spot in the Magic Four.

“He raised again his MVP numbers. He’s our MVP and a very important player in our system,” said Lim of his 6-foot-9 Nigerian slot man. “I’m very glad that he’s responding very well to the minutes given him. Everybody knows that we live and die with Prince.”

In the second game, San Beda routed St. Benilde, 77-55, to clinch its 14th win in 15 games and at least a playoff for a twice-to-beat edge in the Final Four.

Robert Bolick paced his team with 19 points including 10 in the first quarter when the Lions made the separation.

The Blazers absorbed their seventh defeat against eight wins, pushing them two full games away from the No. 4 Altas.

Eze said a big key was making their free throws.

“If we don’t make our free throws, we will not be here,” said Eze, who went 9-of-11 from the line in an improvement from his 54.9-percent average.

For San Sebastian, it’s another heartbreaker. The Stags dropped an almost similar defeat in their first-round encounter.

The Stags slipped to 4-11.

Jeff Coronel had 15 points including six in OT. He also logged in six rebounds and five assists while Razon came up with 13 points.

Charcos wound up with 12 points, six boards and seven assists that made up for seven turnovers.