After a series of heartbreaking losses, the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals were finally able to find poise in the end game, staving off the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA Altas, 61-57, Friday evening at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
EAC ended their first round campaign with a 4-5 slate, while Perpetual are now behind the Generals with a 3-6 record.
“Actually to be honest, we gave our hearts in this game. Since last game in the first round, we cannot allow them to beat us so we really have to win this game,” said second-year EAC head coach Ariel Sison as the Generals came from close losses that could’ve have gone either way.
Sidney Onwubere was the push the Generals needed to overcome their hump, scoring 21 points, grabbing 17 rebounds, and dishing out three assists.
“I told him if he could play more than 40 minutes, no problem, he can stay, and he did. He’s in great shape,” Sison added, as his ace forward played 39 minutes in the game.
Floor general Francis Munsayac and Jerome Garcia chipped in 16 and eight points respectively. And the Generals needed a clutch shot from the latter to break away from Perpetual.
With 4:52 left in the final frame, Garcia knocked down a long triple to put EAC up, 50-47. However, that would be the Generals’ last field goal as Perpetual played the foul game with EAC converting on 11 of their 12 free throw attempts to close out the game.
Still, the Altas made one last push. With the Generals up 59-52 with just a minute remaining, sparkplugs Jack Hao and Rommel Mangalino were able to cut the lead to just two with 9.4 seconds left. Munsayac quelled the rally by knocking down two free throws to seal the win.
“Relieved ako ngayon kasi sabi ko sa kanila, yung close game na yan kailangan na ma-overcome. Di na pwede yung sayang lang,” said Sison.
Prince Eze paced Perpetual with 14 points, 20 rebounds, and four swats.
The Scores:
EAC 61 – Onwubere 21, Munsayac 16, Garcia 8, Bugarin 4, Diego 3, Mendoza 3, Bautista 2, Pascua 2, Tampoc 2, Corilla 0, Guzman 0, Mendoza 0.
UPHSD 57 – Eze 14, Dagangon 11, Coronel 9, Pido 6, Ylagan 4, Clemente 3, Hao 3, Sadiwa 3, Mangalino 2, Tamayo 2, Casas 0, Lucente 0, Yuhico 0.
Quarterscores: 19-12, 33-27, 43-39, 61-57.
