Jose Rizal University was on the verge of repeating a beat down of Emilio Aguinaldo College. But with the post-season coming nearing, the Generals did not allow an encore, stunning the Heavy Bombers, 88-84, Tuesday afternoon at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
“Very thankful, wala akong masabi kung hindi thankful talaga sa Lord and sa mga players ko. They are doing their very best,” said second-year EAC head coach Ariel Sison.
The win lifted EAC to solo fourth with a 5-5 slate, a game ahead of JRU and half-a-game ahead of Letran and San Sebastian.
Moreover, this was a huge bounce back win for EAC after being lambasted by the same team last August 15, 77-48.
“May problema din kami noon. Hindi kami nakapag-adjust sa nangyari kay [Hamadou] Laminou so may mga lapses na nangyari. It was my fault before when JRU beat us by a huge margin,” admitted Sison.
This time though, JRU was up by as much as 14 points, 58-44, midway through the third frame. EAC though fought back in the final frame.
Behind the troika of Sidney Onwubere, Jerome Garcia, and Jeric Diego, the Generals slowly chipped into the lead until they were able to cut the lead down to just a solitary point, 79-80, with 1:51 remaining.
“Bago ako umalis ng kwarto nag-pray ako sabi ko lord padikitin niyo lang kami ng fourth quarter, from then kami na bahala,” reflected EAC skipper Onwubere, who finished the game with a game-high 28 points and eight rebounds.
After a turnover by Teytey Teodoro, Onwubere was able to find Diego underneath with 1:24 remaining to give EAC the taste of the lead. Another error by Teodoro led to a top-of-the-arc triple by Onwubere that proved to be the dagger with 57.4 ticks left.
Garcia added 16 points while Diego and Philip Tampoc chipped in 11 markers each.
Splits on the stripe by Mendoza hampered JRU’s chances to retake the game while Francis Munsayac and Garcia put the finishing the touches.
Jed Mendoza paced JRU with 22 points and nine rebounds while Teodoro and Grospe finished with 18 and 15 points respectively. Teodoro though committed six turnovers in the contest.
EAC looks to make it three in a row when it faces the Arellano Chiefs on Friday, September 22 at 2:00pm. JRU, on the other hand, will have a tough task in its next outing, taking on the San Beda Red Lions on the same day at 4:00pm
The Scores:
EAC 88 – Onwubere 28, Garcia 16, Diego 11, Tampoc 11, Munsayac 9, Mendoza I 7, Bugarin 2, Guzman 2, Pascua 2, Corilla 0, Mendoza J 0, Neri 0.
JRU 84 – Mendoza 22, Teodoro 18, Grospe 15, Bordon 12, Poutouochi 6, Abdul Razak 4, Dela Virgen 3, Lasquety 2, Sawat 2, David 0.
Quarterscores: 24-22, 36-39, 57-61, 88-84.
