Emilio Aguinaldo College escaped Lyceum of the Philippines University, 70-69, to take their first win of the NCAA Season 97 seniors basketball tournament, Saturday at La Salle Greenhills St. Benilde Gym in Mandaluyong City.
The Generals led by as much as 12 points with Marwin Taywan and Jp Magullano in the lead, 67-55, with 5:07 left in the game, but could not seal the win from the free-throw line.
Back-to-back threes came from the two EAC seniors with Taywan beating the buzzer at the 6:38 mark of the final period and Magullano answered back a Renzo Navarro trey with 4:27 remaining in the contest.
The Pirates, though, would not give up just yet despite the double-digit deficit.
With Renzo Navarro and Enoch Valdez heating up, the Pirates mounted a 14-3 run, to get to within one with 1:35 left.
LPU had a chance to snatch the game at the death, but rookie McLaude Guadana could not drill the mid-range jumper.
“Well, it was a sigh of relief for us,” EAC head coach Oliver Bunyi said. “Many people have been telling us after our game against Mapua and SBU, sabi nila good game. But we did not accept it like we cannot be satisfied with that. A good game is always a won game.”
“But actually mas marami kaming matututunan sa larong ito na nanalo kami compared dun sa game namin against Mapua and SBU kasi we had a lot of things to adjust,” he continued.
Taywan paced the Generals’charge with 14 points, eight assists, three steals, and two rebounds. Magullano ended with a double-double production of 13 markers and 11 boards, to go along with two steals. Cosa ended with 10 points, eight rebounds, and one steal.
JM Bravo was the lone Pirate in double-digits in points with 12, adding five rebounds and four steals. Navarro was limited to nine points, all of which came from behind the arc.
The victory puts EAC into the win column at 1-2, while LPU still remains winless at 0-3.
EAC shall take on De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (2-1) on April 5 at 3 p.m., while LPU will face Jose Rizal University (0-2) on April 6 at 12 NN.
The Scores:
EAC (70) — Taywan 14, Maguliano 13, Cosa 10, Liwag 8, Robin 6, Quinal 5, Gurtiza 5, Luciano 4, Doria Ad. 2, Cadua 2, Umpad 1, Doria An. 0, Umpad 0, Bunyi 0.
LPU (69) — Bravo 12, Navarro 9, Cunanan 9, Valdez 9, Barba 9, Remulla 8, Larupay 7, Guadaña 3, Gaviola 2, Umali 1, Guinto 0, Silvarez 0, Jabel 0.
Quarterscores: 22-9, 37-34, 52-52, 70-69
