It took JRU 11 days before they could bounce back from their 48-54 loss. But the Heavy Bombers made it count, lambasting the reeling Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, 77-48, to score their biggest win of the season, Tuesday afternoon at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
But coach Vergel Meneses made sure to make the most out of that break.
“I gave them two days off then tune-up kami against FEU, we treated that as an actual game,” said the PBA legend.
With the win, JRU evened their slate to 3-3, while EAC dropped to 3-4.
And the fight the Generals showed last Thursday against the league-leading Lyceum Pirates was seemingly lost, as they shot a season-low 23.19 percent from the field while going an equally-horrendous 12-for-33 from the charity stripe.
Ervin Grospe sparked JRU by scoring 10 of his game-high 19 points in the opening frame, matching the total first quarter output of the Generals.
And the game was already out of reach come the second frame, as EAC were limited to just 11 points in the second quarter. On the other end, Abdoul Poutouochi and MJ Dela Virgen combined for 15 points during that span to give JRU a 37-21 lead entering the break.
“If this team were playing to its potential, hindi ako matatakot whoever ang kalabanin namin. Sa kanila ako takot, sa JRU ako takot,” Meneses admitted.
The JRU lead would peak at 35 points, 65-30, late in the third canto.
Jed Mendoza added 15 markers while Davao-native Abdul Sawat chipped in 10 points. Foreign student-athletes Poutouochi and Abdulwahab Abdulrazak grabbed 10 and 12 rebounds respectively.
Adding to EAC’s woes was the struggles of Sidney Onwubere. After being limited to just a single field goal last Thursday, the EAC skipper shot just 2-for-13 from the field and 1-for-8 from the free throw line for five points while committing five errors.
Jeric Diego paced EAC with 13 rebounds.
JRU will next face the Saint Benilde Blazers on Friday, August 18, at 4:00pm. EAC, on the other hand, take on the San Sebastian Golden Stags on the same day at 12:00nn.
The Scores:
JRU 77 – Grospe 19, Mendoza 15, Sawat 10, Poutouochi 9, Dela Virgen 6, Teodoro 6, Bordon 5, Abdul Razak 4, Castor 2, Lasquety 1, Pontejos 0, David 0.
EAC 48 – Diego 13, Garcia 12, Onwubere 5, Corilla 4, Bugarin 3, Bautista 3, Guzman 3, Tampoc 3, Munsayac 2, Pascua 0, Mendoza I 0, Neri 0, Altache 0, Mendoza J 0.
Quarterscores: 14-10, 37-21, 65-32, 77-48.
