Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Perpetual Help went to the troika of Earl Scottie Thompson, Prince Eze and John Ylagan when Bright Akhuetie went down with a shoulder injury as it routed Lyceum, 70-42, Tuesday (September 1) to get back on track in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at The Arena in San Juan.
Thompson had 13 points, 12 boards and 10 assists for his fourth triple-double effort this season and seventh overall while the 6-11 Eze stepped up in the absence of Akhuetie, who hurt his shoulder late in the first half, by notching 18 points, 19 rebounds and six blocks.
Ylagan, for his part, had a career-best 15 points, all coming from the three-point area.
“We needed these kinds of performances to win game, not like our last game when we lost,” said Perpetual Help coach Aric del Rosario, who lost to Mapua, 65-70, last Thursday.
Perpetual tightened its hold of the third spot with an 8-3 win-loss record.
In the other game, Arellano University survived Benilde’s three-point shooting spree and eked out an 86-82 victory yesterday to stay in the magic four.
Jio Jalalon, Dioncee Holts and Allen Enriquez took charge in the fourth quarter, combining for 24 of their team’s 31 points there to help the Chiefs escape with their seventh victory against four losses that kept them at fourth spot.
Jalalon went on to finish with 20 points he spiked with six rebounds and nine assists while Holts and Enriquez ended up with 15 and 14, respectively, as Arellano overcame a league-best 15 three-pointers by St. Benilde.
“We just threw away the scouting report that they couldn’t shoot threes and just played hard,” said Arellano coach Jerry Codinera.
