Agem Miranda ended Jose Rizal University’s NCAA Season 98 Seniors Basketball Tournament suffering after hitting a game winning basket against Emilio Aguinaldo College, 61-60 on Friday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Miranda knocked down a tough fallaway right at the buzzer to get their first win in almost a month.
“Siguro pasalama muna ako sa nangyari. There’s already a divine intervention on that. Talagang nabigyan ako ng chance na makapag design ng play,” said JRU head coach Louie Gonzalez.
Only leading by four at the half, 31-27, the Heavy Bombers opened the third frame with an 11-0 run to get a comfortable 42-27 advantage.
However, the Generals did not give up easily as they sparked a 16-0 run started by Miranda’s floater at exactly seven minutes of the payoff period to finally overtake JRU with 11-seconds remaining.
John Amores though, refused to lose, hitting a long triple, 59-60 with 4.9-ticks left.
Amores fouled Adrian Balowa on the other end and fortunately for the Heavy Bombers, Balowa missed both giving JRU a chance for a Hail Mary shot.
This is the Heavy Bombers’ first victory since October 7 where they got their fifth straight win in round one against Lyceum of the Philippines University.
Miranda led JRU with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Ry Dela Rosa and Jason Celis added 12 and 10 markers apiece, both with three boards and a dime.
For EAC, Nat Cosejo had a game-high 16 points and 13 rebounds, while JP Maguliano ended up with 15 markers and six boards.
The Heavy Bombers are now one game above .500 with 6-5 win-loss record, while the Generals dropped to 1-13.
Next up for JRU is Arellano University on Sunday at 3 PM. EAC will try to get their second win against University of Perpetual Help System DALTA on Tuesday at 12 NN.
The Scores:
JRU 61 — Miranda 12, Dela Rosa 12, Celis 10, Sy 9, Amores 5, Arenal 3, Dionisio 2, Delos Santos 2, Guiab 2, Medina 2, Tan 2, De Jesus 0, Abaoag 0, Gonzales 0.
EAC 60 — Cosejo 16, Maguliano 15, Liwag 5, Ad. Doria 5, Balowa 4, Luciano 4, Dominguez 4, Tolentino 4, Angeles 2, Quinal 1, An. Doria 0, Cosa 0.
Quarterscores: 16-12, 31-27, 51-41, 61-60.
