Jose Rizal University got its first win in the NCAA Season 98 Seniors Basketball Tournament after demolishing Emilio Aguinaldo College, 97-74, Saturday afternoon at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
The win snapped the Heavy Bombers’ five-game skid — including two losses to start this season.
And a huge third quarter paved the way for their breakthrough win.
Agem Miranda, John Amores, and Joshua Guiab did everything in the third quarter, combining to score 13 of JRU’s 19 points while limiting the Generals to just 10 points on just seven attempts in the quarter. Suffocating was their defense, leading to 11 EAC turnovers that led to 17 JRU points.
JRU got its biggest lead while also breaching the 90-point mark for the second straight game after a JL Delos Santos bucket, 91-64.
“Actually what fuels us to finish strong is during our last game, we did our best already pero for us to make a statement that we really belong in this league is for us to make an absolute best every second, every minute dun s floor,” said Heavy Bomber head coach Louie Gonzalez as JRU was dealt a 101-97 overtime heartbreak by Letran. “Kaya ayun ang challenge ko dun sa players ko.”
JRU forced EAC to to 26 turnovers which they converted into a whopping 37 points — 20 on the break.
The Heavy Bombers also dominated at permiter points with 48 compared to the Generals 12.
Both Agen Miranda and William Sy had 20 apiece for JRU. The former finished with six rebounds, five assists, and three steals while the latter added five boards and three dimes.
Delos Santos added 17 points, five rebounds and four assists while John Amores had a double-double of 11 markers and 10 boards.
For the Generals, Nat Cosejo paved the way with 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field together with seven boards. Allen Liwag added 15 markers and 17 boards while Ralph Robin ended up with 18 points.
Next up for JRU (1-2) is Arellano University (2-1) on Wednesday at 3 PM. EAC (0-3), meanwhile, will look to get their first win against Lyceum of the Philippines University (1-1) on Tuesday at the same time.
The Scores:
JRU (97) – Miranda 20, Sy 20, Delos Santos 17, Amores 11, Guiab 9, Celis 7, Dionisio 5, Dela Rosa 3, Villarin 3, Arenal 2, Gonzales 0, Medina 0.
EAC (74) – Cosejo 27, Robin 18, Liwag 15, Gurtiza 4, Luciano 4, Balowa 2, Quinal 2, Tolentino 2, Umpad 0, Bajon 0, Maguliano 0, Bacud 0, Dominguez 0, Doria Ad. 0, Cosa 0.
Quarterscores: 25-22, 52-41, 71-51, 97-74
