Jielo Razon showed the way as Perpetual Help bucked the absence of star forward Kim Aurin to eliminate third seed College of St. Benilde, 76-64, and clinch the last Final Four seat in the NCAA Season 97 play-in round on Wednesday, May 4 at the FilOil Flying V Arena.
It was a total team effort for the Altas who were without Aurin due to chickenpox as five players scored in twin digits, setting the tone for the wire-to-wire victory that booked them a semifinal dance against the top seed and unbeaten Letran Knights.
John Abis led Perpetual with 14 points while Razon, who provided the timely hits to douse the Blazers' rally in the second half, finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Jeff Egan and Cris Pagaran contributed 13 points each while JP Boral added 11 markers, 10 of those he unloaded in the first half when Perpetual built a comfortable lead which it never relinquished until the final buzzer.
Altas head coach Myk Saguiguit lauded his wards for sticking to their system during the do-or-die match especially that they are missing the services of their main gun who is averaging 14.44 points, 5.22 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in the eliminations.
“Ang nakakatuwa lang kanina they embraced the system kumbaga kung ano yung pinag usapan namin kung ano yung ginawa namin sa practice, iyon talaga yung lumabas so natutuwa ako sa mga bata kasi gusto talaga nilang Manalo kaya sumurrender sila lahat,” said Saguiguit.
The Altas rode a blistering second quarter where it unleashed a back-breaking 11-0 run that turned a 25-23 affair to a 36-23 lead. CSB tried to mount a comeback in the second half behind the efforts from JC Cullar but was not enough as it couldn't break the nine-digit barrier Perpetual had put up.
Cullar paced the the Blazers with 18 points while Will Gozum added 13 markers. CSB finished at the fourth seed of the standings with a 5-4 record but lost two consecutive games in the play-in – first against San Beda, 63-57, shattering its hopes to end a 20-year Final Four drought this season.
The scores:
Perpetual 76 -- Abis 14, Razon 13, Egan 13, Pagaran 12, Boral 11, Omega 6, Martel 4, Cuevas 2, Sevilla 1, Barcuma 0.
CSB 64 -- Cullar 18, Gozum 13, Flores 10, Nayve 8, Corteza 8, Lim 4, Lepalam 2, Marcos 1, Carlos 0, Sangco 0, Publico 0, Davis 0, Mosqueda 0. Quarterscores: 21-14, 40-32, 59-47, 76-64.