Altas make impact despite early exit

MANILA, Philippines - Despite some problems it encountered entering the season and some injuries that beset the team, Perpetual Help went out of the 87th NCAA basketball tournament drawing a lot of respect from its peers.

Perpetual was the first to get eliminated from the Final Four race after falling to a 3-12 (win-loss) record but most of their second round defeats were close ones.

It was a far cry from their first round effort when the Altas just played demoralized after seeing their head coach resign and two of their big men, Paul Nulian and Marlon Gomez, did not play.

The Las Piñas-based team also played with a lot of injuries including their remaining big men Mark Sumera and co-skipper George Allen.

“There is nothing to be ashamed of, the players played to win and compete and it showed in our results, mostly heartbreaking losses,” said Perpetual Help coach Jimwell Gicain, who took over from resigned coach Boris Aldeguer a week before the season started.

Except for the 55-69 defeat at the hands of San Beda at the start of the second round last Aug. 22, Perpetual lost to Mapua by three points, 62-65, Emilio Aguinaldo by six, 71-77, before coming one shot of stunning leader San Sebastian, 76-77, last week.

Perpetual made a good account of itself by upending Lyceum, 78-73, and St. Benilde, 63-57, in a season they could have performed better if not for the aforementioned problems.

“The school is behind our team, we’re proud of them,” said league president and policy board chair Anthony Tamayo of host Perpetual.

“The confidence we got this season should help us rebound next year. We’re excited because we have promising young players we hope to be more experienced next season,” he added.