EAC Head Coach Andy de Guzman said his troops had to triple their efforts against the NCAA’s top crew, and paid off in many ways. “Hard work lang ang puhunan. If we played triple hard, mapapakita natin ang character ng team na ito,” De Guzman said.
The Generals posted a commanding 67-42 margin in rebounding, including a 26-15 lead in offensive rebounds which turned to 17 second chance points for the group.
Laminou Hamadou led the charge for the Generals, finishing with 20 points, 24 boards, and four blocked shots to lead his team in the interior. His presence was key especially inside as the Knights shot only 31 percent overall from the field. “Malaki yung presence ni Laminou sa defense. I am very happy nagamit namin yung height advantage namin,” De Guzman added.
With such presence, it helped spread the floor for EAC on offense as Letran did not have a legitimate big underneath. And whenever Hamadou attracted double-teams, the Generals would shoot from deep.
Averaging only above three points a game, Jorel Morada finished with 18 points, firing 5-for-10 from three-point area. The volume of outside shots thr Generals have been taking has increased as of late, and he says they work on that aspect every time. “Every time sa practice we work on our shooting so buti na lang lumabas ngayon ang three-point shooting namin,” Morada said.
It helped that EAC had an orchestrator in Francis Munsayac, who had an all-around game of seven points, six rebounds, and three assists.
De Guzman shared he let Munsayac lead the squad, and the team focused on breaking the Letran press. “I talked to Francis kanina and sabi ko, you can do whatever you want,” De Guzman said. “I am just focusing on what we are really doing. Na-solve namin yung press nila and yun rin ang pumatay sa kanila. Lume-layup na lang kami.”
The Generals have found a chink in the Knights’ armor, and it is something the latter needs to solve moving forward.
