By Jerome Lagunzad
Games Tomorrow
(Ynares Sports Arena)
2 p.m. – Gamboa Coffee Mix vs Akari
4 p.m. – Che’Lu Bar and Grill vs JRU
Go for Gold gave Perpetual Help a perfect dose of its own medicine yesterday with an 81-69 victory that put its PBA D-League Aspirants Cup title campaign back on track at the JCSGO Gym in Cubao, Quezon City.
Guard J-Jay Alejandro waxed hot with 23 points, spiked by five triples, while Senegalese big man Clement Leutcheu and former pro Jerwin Gaco did enough to neutralize Altas’ prized reinforcement Prince Eze down low and help the Scratchers avert a monumental collapse.
The morale-boosting victory enabled Go for Gold, built around the core of NCAA member St. Benilde, to stop a two-game losing skid and improve its mark to an even 2-2 slate.
Rey Peralta came off the bench and tallied a team-high 18 points while Kim Aurin added 17 points but the Altas sorely missed the usual dominance from the 6-foot-11 Eze, leading to their second loss after three outings.
The Nigerian center, fresh from a monster 20-20 triple-double performance in their 88-72 win over Jose Rizal University the last time out, suffered a bruised hip in the first half and wasn’t even utilized at all after the break, finishing with just six points and five rebounds in 15 minutes of play.
Without Eze, the Scratchers had a field day in the lane, coming up with 38 points, nearly double of the Altas’ output, and also hauling down 15 offensive rebounds that resulted to 14 second chance points.
“We’re slowly getting the team that we want. But we still have a lot of room for improvement, ” said Go for Gold coach Charles Tiu, quite pleased with his wards’ collective performance after they managed to escape despite turning the ball over 30 times.