Chiefs buck Generals, catch Lions at helm

Arellano U survived a big Emilio Aguinaldo College scare, scrambling at the finish to eke out an 83- 74 victory yesterday and join San Beda atop the team standings of the 92nd NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

Jio Jalalon nearly churned out a triple-double but his 21-point, eightrebound and nine-assist effort proved enough to lift the Chiefs past a toughdefending EAC side and notch their seven straight win and 10th overall against two defeats.

Kent Salado also came away with 15 points and nine boards for the Legarda-based school, which hobbled with poor shooting and erratic plays in the fourth quarter.

“We had so many mistakes and mental lapses in the end but we were just lucky they ( Generals) weren’t able to take advantage of them,” said Arellano U coach Jerry Codiñera.

Earlier, Perpetual Help rebounded from a stinging setback to San Sebastian last week, trouncing winless St. Benilde, 70-45, to firm up its hold of third spot.

The Altas sized up the Blazers in the first two quarters before outscoring their Taft-based rivals, 187, in the third quarter to pull away at 52-35 before cruising to the 25-point romp, their ninth against three losses.

Reeling from their 55-71 blowout loss to the Stags, the Altas struggled in the early going before picking up their pace and finding their rhythm to post a six-point lead at the turn.

The Las Piñas- based squad then toughened up on defense at the resumption, forcing a series of turnovers against the hapless Blazers and converting them into baskets to pull away.

The Altas also held the Blazers to the season’s lowest output since San Sebastian pulled off a 56-49 win over St. Benilde.

“We needed to do everything right coming off a painful loss. Good thing something came out of it,” said Perpetual Help coach Jimwell Gican. “We also played good defense.”

Bright Akhuetie, who turned in the lone double- digit score ( 21) against San Sebastian, slowed down with 15 markers but drew solid backup this time with Gab Dagangon, Gerald Dizon and Prince Eze scoring 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively.

“I keep telling the players that we can’t win with only one or two players. We need to get more contributions and we did that in this game,” said Gican.

The loss was the Blazers’ 12th straight defeat, their worst ever start since joining the league in 1998. In 2004, St. Benilde dropped its first 11 games.