Altas wrest solo 4th as Blazers fall

MANILA, Philippines — Perpetual Help continued its Final Four drive with an 88-71 rout of Mapua yesterday then watched College of St. Benilde blink in a costly 67-69 defeat to Emilio Aguinaldo College yesterday to seize solo fourth in the 94th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Center.

Kim Aurin matched his career-high 23-point burst while Jelo Razon backed him up with 19  as they powered the surging Altas to their fourth straight win for a 9-5 overall card.

The Las Piñas-based school later grabbed solo fourth after CSB wavered and dropped a two-point decision to EAC and fell to fifth with an 8-6 record.

Perpetual Help shocked Lyceum of the Phl U, 83-81, last week to fuel its four-game run.

“Our win over LPU would be meaningless if we couldn’t win our next games. And so far, we’ve won two straight after that win and we hope to win some more games,” said Perpetual Help coach Frankie Lim, whose charges will face San Sebastian next Thursday.

The Altas did get past the Cardinals with top gunners Nigerian Prince Eze and Edgar Charcos yielding the spotlight to Kim Aurin and Jielo Razon, who fired 23 and 19 points, respectively. Eze backed them up with 17 markers and Charcos added 12 points.

Letran, meanwhile, clobbered Jose Rizal U, 89-79, to stay at solo third with a 10-4 card. The Bombers fell to 2-13.

EAC earlier did Perpetual Help some favor as it stunned CSB, anchoring its close win on JP Magullano and Jethro Mendoza.

Magullano and Mendoza combined for 12 points in the final period as the Generals rallied from five down to repulse the Blazers. They finished with 14 and eight points, respectively.

Magullano and Mendoza’s output in the fourth actually bettered the entire Blazers’ production as the latter struggle in the face of their rivals’ tough defense and cough up for just 10 markers.

The scores:

First Game

Perpetual Help 88 – Aurin 23, Razon 19, Eze 17, Charcos 12, Sese 6, Coronel 5, Perlata 4, Tamayo 2, Cuevas , Mangalino 0, Jimenez 0, Pasia 0

Mapua 71 – Bonifacio 20, Victoria 16, Bunag 8, Serrano 7, Pelayo 6, Gamboa 6, Lugo 5, Nieles 2, Biteng 1, Jabel 0, Aguirre 0

Quaretscores: 20-13; 41-30; 68-46; 88-71

Second Game

EAC 69 – Magullano 14, Laminou 13, Garcia 10, Bautista 10, Mendoza 8, Tampoc 6, Gonzales 0, BUgarin 0, Corilla 0, Neri 0

CSB 67 – Haruna 18, Gutang 16, Carlos 11, Dixon 8, Leutcheu 4, Pasturan 4, Belgica 4, Nayve 2, Naoa 0, Young 0

Quarterscores: 22-15; 39-37; 52-57; 69-67

Third Game

Letran 89 – Galvelo 16, Quinto 14, Calvo 13, Muyang 11, Taladua 11, Fajarito 8, Ambohot 7, Yu 5, Celis 2, Mandreza 2, Agbong 0, Balagasay 0

JRU 79 – Mendoza 25, Dela Virgen 16, Esguerra 11, Aguilar 9, Silvarez 7, Mallari 4, Santos 4, Estrella 3, David 0, Padua 0, Doromal 0, Dela Rosa 0

Quarterscores: 22-19; 57-38; 73-54, 89-79