Benilde-LSGH had their backs against the wall when they beat Letran.

Losing head coach Renren Ritualo and top gunner Guillian Quines to suspensions seemed like a fatal blow, but the likes of Gian Gomez and Arle Podador, under a system engineered to create ‘fighters,’ proved to be just enough for the mean time.

“Yung sistema po namin, it's designed to be a fighter. We are a very scrappy team kaya nagreresulta sa laro na parang fighters, kaya ganun kami maglaro,” said Benilde-LSGH guard Gian Gomez after willing the green-and-white to their most crucial win yet in NCAA Season 100. 

Despite having no head coach and missing the services of the league's second best scorer– both serving their one-game suspensions after getting ejected against EAC– Benilde-LSGH knew they had to empty their gas tanks and more. 

In the Greenies’ 78-74 OT win against Letran, Gomez fired 18 points to go along with six boards, four dimes, and two steals, in tandem with Arle Podador’s 19 points, eight rebounds, and five steals. 

Both ace players were heroic for their squad in the fourth and in OT.

Gomez tied the game at 69 with 3:15 remaining in regulation, moments before saving a possession for the Greenies at the 2:30 mark. 

Down by two, 71-69, with under a minute left, the undersized guard swiped the ball away from Letran's top scorer Daniel Padilla that led to an assisted breakaway layup for team captain James Ison.

The Greenies almost sealed the deal in the fourth if it weren't for Podador's two missed freebies that would've broken the 71-all deadlock with only five ticks left. 

In overtime, Podador tied the game at 74, before Gomez used what little energy he had left and accelerated to a miracle layup against Alvin Villanueva and Syrex Silorio to go up by two.

Podador hit the final nail in the coffin with a perfect trip to the free throw line, four seconds on the game clock, to extend their lead to four.

Not only Podador and Gomez, who had to carry the offensive load for the green-and-white, suffered cramps and had to be subbed out at various points in the payoff period. 

Ram Sharma, Brandon Yutuc, and Migz Osis also had to be assisted back to the bench. 

With the game needing an extra period, both the Greenies and the Squires showed clear signs of physical burnout.

“That's why some of my teammates were cramping kasi nawala yung presence and pagiging scorer ni Guillian Quines. Syempre pag crunch time, we rely on him, and sya yung nagsi-step talaga… ramdam na ramdam yung pagkawala ni Quines,” shared Gomez, who emerged as the team’s energy guy and go-to scorer in one. 

Lead assistant coach Jun Villarin also praised his boys for their heart, saying it was all about the “next man up” mentality. 

“Hindi madali manalo nang wala yung leading scorer namin, especially ung head coach namin. Masaya ako na yung puso talaga lumabas ngayon, makikita mo kahit nag-cramps na sila, hindi sila umaayaw sa laro,” the Greenies mentor told GMA RTV News after the game.

Podador, on the other hand, had simple words to describe his crucial misses in the fourth, which he paid for and more with two winning free throws in OT. 

“Yung sa fourth quarter na free throws, chinill ko lang yung utak ko, yun talaga yung nangyari eh, sabi ko lang sa sarili ko, ‘shoot or miss, yun na yun talaga.’ Nung overtime, yung crucial free throws ko, inadjust ko lang talaga yung tira ko, medyo umatras ako para pumasok yun,” revealed the Cagayan de Oro native. 

“Minotivate nila ako, lalo na yung captain ball namin na si James Ison, sinabihan nila ako na ‘di pa tapos yung laban, meron pang overtime,” he added.

No. 2 seed Letran Squires and No. 3 seed Benilde-LSGH Greenies are set for an all-out slugfest tomorrow, April 9, at the FilOil EcoOil Arena, to decide who’s facing the Perpetual Junior Altas in the #NCAA100 Juniors Basketball Finals.