ARELLANO pulled off a major upset over Perpetual Help, 70-69, in the NCAA Season 101 men’s basketball tournament at San Juan Arena on Sunday.

The Chiefs, who were only the third best team in Group B prior to Sunday’s action, sent the Altas reeling to their third straight loss and fourth overall.

Arellano improved to 5-6 in Group B, moving closer to defending champion Mapua, which has a 6-5 record.

Aside from the improvement in the team standings, coach Chico Manabat was more ecstatic with the fact that they now have won two straight games, following their victory over San Sebastian a few days ago.

“Ang pinakamaganda dito e ‘yong manalo… ‘Yong preparations din namin kasi, tumutugma sa mga crucial moments na ganito kasi pinaghahandaan talaga namin ‘yong ganito,” said coach Chico Manabat.

“We have two games left sa group namin at nawa, makuha pa rin namin para maganda.”

On the other hand, the Altas’ loss sent Group B in a free-for-all frenzy.

Now holding an 8-4 card, the Altas could slide down to as low as the second seed, leaving room for the Cardinals to make a late round rally to snag the seat at the top of the hill.

Arellano led by as much as 10 points in the 2:11 mark of the fourth quarter before the Altas unloaded a 9-0 rally capped off by an LA Casinillo triple in the last 25 seconds of the game.

That would be all she wrote, though, as Mark Gojo Cruz missed the go-ahead triple to win the game, effectively giving the Chiefs their fifth win in 11 games. Arellano led by as much as 18 points.

The guard tandem of T-Mc Ongotan and Renzo Abiera fueled the Chiefs to the finish line with 22 and 16 points, respectively.

Gojo Cruz did a little bit of everything with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Altas but to no avail. John Abis’ 13-point game was also flushed down the drain.

The scores:

Arellano (70) – Ongotan 22, Abiera 16, Hernal 8, Valencia 8, Camay 7, Vinoya 5, Buenaventura 4, Geronimo 0, Libang 0, Borromeo 0, Demetria 0, Langit 0, Acop 0, Cabotaje 0.

Perpetual Help (69)  – Gojo Cruz 14, Abis 13, Casinilio 10, Sleat 8, Boral 8, Orgo 8, Nuñez 4, Pizarro 2, Maglupay 2, Alcantara 0, Duremdes 0, Tulabut 0.

Quarterscores: 28-20, 44-28, 55-47, 70-69.