‘Other’ Altas step up to halt Generals

MANILA, Philippines - Perpetual Help banked on its shock troopers when Bright Akhuetie struggled and Scottie Thompson limped out with an ankle injury as the Altas repulsed the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, 68-55, to stay at third in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday.

Nigerian Prince Eze stepped up with 17 points, eight rebounds and two blocks while Antonio Coronel came off the bench to fire a career-high 16 points, powering the Altas to their sixth win against two defeats, half-a-game behind No. 2 San Beda (6-1) and a full game behind Letran (7-1).

Akhuetie, who averaged 22 points in the team’s first seven games, muffed all his eight attempts and finished with a career-low one point while Thompson scored four points in the first six minutes but went out for good after sustaining an ankle injury.

“We played bad actually but Prince (Eze) stepped up,” said Perpetual Help coach Aric del Rosario.

The Generals, who came into the match oozing with confidence following back-to-back victories, including a big reversal over the erstwhile unbeaten Knights, fell to 2-6.

With Akhuetie groping for form and Thompson out for good, the Generals failed to keep abreast with the Altas as Eze and Coronel took charge to carry the Las Piñas-based squad to a 30-23 lead at the turn.

They were never threatened from there, virtually matching EAC’s short burst with their own run before pulling away in the fourth en route to victory.

Earlier, Tey Teodoro unleashed an 18-point binge in the fourth quarter as Jose Rizal University battled back from 18 points down in the final four minutes to eke out a dramatic 90-87 victory over Mapua.

Teodoro exploded with a career-best 32 points he capped with the game-winning lay-up with 3.3 seconds to go as the Bombers completed their miraculous comeback from 66-84 down to steal the win and solo fourth at 5-3.

“He’s a big-time player,” said Jose Rizal coach Vergel Meneses of Teodoro, a Smart Elite ambassador.

Teodoro went on attack mode with four minutes left in the game, drilling in triples and driving past defenders to personally put the Bombers back in the game.

He capped his endgame heroics with a drive against the taller Allwell Oraeme with 8.1 seconds remaining and JRU trailing by one, 86-87.

“Coach (Meneses) told me to just take it strong inside because they’re in penalty,” said Teodoro.

Dave Sanchez iced the game with two free throws as Justin Serrano missed a desperation heave from beyond the halfcourt as time expired.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Cardinals, who appeared headed for another win until guards Darell Menina, John Nieles and Andretti Stevens fouled out one after the other down the stretch.

Mapua slid to sixth at 4-4.

In juniors’ action, Mapua waylaid Jose Rizal, 87-39, to jump to second with a 7-1 mark while EAC trounced Perpetual Help, 88-62, to improve to 4-4.