By REYNALD MAGALLON
Kim Aurin erupted for 20 points in the first half as Perpetual routed Jose Rizal University, 77-56, to open its NCAA Season 97 campaign in a dominant fashion Tuesday at the La Salle Greenhills Gym.
The Altas started like a house on fire, racing to an early 9-0 lead and never looked back from that point. They also put the clamps down on the Heavy Bombers who were obviously feeling the rust from a two-year layoff.
JRU could only muster nine points in the opening salvo while Perpetual had 26 points behind the hot hands of Aurin who unloaded 14. He also had four rebounds and three assists in a solid all-around game.
He cooled down in the second half but the rest of Perpetual, led by the 14 points from Jeff Egan and the 13 off the bench from Jielo Razon proved to be enough to maintain the double-digit spread that even went up to as high as 33 points, 66-39 midway in the third.
For Altas head coach Myk Saguiguit, the rousing performance just showed how his wards were eager to perform well, especially after the long NCAA hiatus.
“Di ko rin ine-expect yung naging resulta ng game, siguro yung excitement lang ng mga bata kasi for two years hindi kami nakapaglaro ng basketball so ito yung chance nila kaya ang ganda ng nangyari sa amin,” said the first-year head coach.
After taking an early 9-0 lead, the Altas unleashed a 17-6 run highlighted by three triples from Aurin to take a commanding 26-6 lead late in the first quarter.
John Delos Santos paced the Heavy Bombers with 17 points while Jason Celis added 11 markers but had little support from the rest of the team.
In all, Perpetual buried eight triples and finished with 45 percent shooting from the field while the Heavy Bombers struggled with only 23 percent clip.
The scores:
PERPETUAL 77 ˗ Aurin 20, Egan 14, Razon 13, Abis 6, Pagaran 5, Omega 4, Nunez 3, Cuevas 2, Sevilla 2, Barcuma 2, Boral 2, Martel 2, Movida 2, Kawamura 0, Ferreras 0.
JRU 56 – Delos Santos 17, Celis 11, Bongay 8, Agbong 7, Arenal 7, Estrella 3, Dionisio 2, Jungco 1, Macatangay 0, Aguilar 0, Guiab 0, Dela Rama 0, Gonzales 0.
QuarterS: 26-9, 43-25, 64-38, 77-56
