Altas sink triples to bury Chiefs, stay at third

MANILA,Philippines - Perpetual Help buried Arellano U with a rain of triples in the second half as the Altas ran away with an 89-58 victory to remain at third place in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday.

Jett Vidal fired four of his team’s 10 triples in the second half and finished with a game-high 24 points to power the Altas to their ninth victory against five losses for a full game ahead of fifth-running Letran (8-6).

Nigerian Nose Omorogbe fell short of a rare triple-double, winding up with 18 points, nine assists and eight rebounds while George Allen scattered 18 points and hauled down eight rebounds.

Earl Thompson also came away with 14 points, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block as the Altas broke away from a tight first quarter with a big run in the second.

Perpetual, held to just two triples in the first half, then went on a spree from the long range, sinking eight treys with Vidal accounting for four.

Perpetual Help coach Aric del Rosario, however, downplayed his wards’ awesome shooting and instead credited the win to their defense.

“I got angry with them after our last game when we led by 18 points and stopped playing defense,” said Del Rosario in Filipino. “I scolded them after that game, the next day, I ask them to go home and not practice.

In the nightcap, Lyceum bucked the absence of six of its players as it stunned Jose Rizal, 79-72, in overtime to end an eight-game drought spanning a little over two months.

“The next day, I gave a hard practice that they will never forget. Good thing they responded well in this game,” he added.

The victory also aveged the Las Piñas-based cagers’ 54-63 loss to the Chiefs in the first round.

Arellano U fell to 5-9.

Earlier, Mapua dealt defending champion San Beda its first loss of the season with a shock 64-60 win in junior play.         

Jeric Diego led his team with 15 points, 12 rebounds and a game-high seven blocks as the Robins improved to 9-5 while dropping the Cubs to 12-1, half a game behind the San Sebastian Staglets (13-1).

In other juniors games, Jose Rizal trounced Lyceum, 80-36, and Arellano U dumped Perpetual, 69-64.