UNIVERSITY of Perpetual Help System Dalta overpowered an overachieving Benilde-La Salle Green Hills side, 101-67, to finally reach the NCAA juniors basketball throne at the Filoil EcoOil Centre yesterday.

The Junior Altas won the best-of-three series, 2-1, erasing the pain of last season’s championship defeat.

It was Perpetual’s first-ever basketball title since joining the league in 1984.

Season MVP LeBron Jhames Daep scored only 10 points but had a solid all-around outing of game-high 12 rebounds, two blocks, two steals and two assists.

Daep, who atoned himself from a disappointing eight-point showing in Game 2, was also named the Finals MVP.

The Junior Altas also had double-double performances from Jan Roluna (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Icee Callangan (14 points, 12 assists).

Jim Corpuz scored all of his 13 points in the first half while Dan Rosales was the other player who scored in double digits with 12 points that went along with four boards, three assists and two steals.

There were miracle comebacks this time for the Greenies, who prior to the decider were 4-0 in do-or-die matches.

LSGH scored the first three points of the game before Perpetual imposed its will in the first half, racing to a 53-30 advantage and settled for a 58-38 lead at the break.

After dropping 35 points in the series-tying win, Guillian Quines had 18 points, five steals, four rebounds and two assists but committed seven turnovers for the Greenies, while Gian Gomez contributed 17 points.

The scores:

Perpetual (101) – Roluna 15, Callagan 14, Corpus 13, Rosales 12, Daep 10, Pagulayan 9, Tabbuan 9, Baldoria 5, Nitura 3, Dela Cruz 3, Velasquez 2, Borja 2, Llupar 2, Cristino 2, Zanoria 0.
Benilde-LSGH (67) – Quines 18, Gomez 17, Ortega 9, Podador 8, Osis 4, Yutuc 3, Ison 2, Sharma 2, Torres 2, Abad 2, Hizon 0, Hachuela 0, Tud 0, Gonzales 0.
Quarterscores: 32-18, 58-38, 81-55, 101-67.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Theodore P. Jurado