EMILIO Aguinaldo College (EAC) pulled off an upset for its first win, while season host Mapúa Institute of Technology nearly blew a 43-point lead before holding on in Season 91 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) seniors’ basketball on Friday at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
The Generals weathered a late fourth-quarter storm by San Sebastian College (SSC) to slip past with a 77-71 win and put a halt to their early-season slump.
On the other hand, the Cardinals moved up to .500 for the first time since Season 88 after surviving Lyceum of the Philippines University’s (LPU) second-half onslaught to pull off a 109-95 result in the second game.
After falling behind at the end of the first half by 40 points, 68-28, the Pirates mounted a huge comeback bid led by MJ Ayaay and Shaquille Oswald Alanes, combining for 35 of the team’s 68 in the final two quarters to bring the Pirates within six, 95-101, with 1:36 left in the contest.
But LPU’s luck ran out, as they failed to score and execute at the tail end of their comeback bid, with the Cardinals’ Nigerian center Allwell Oraeme scoring six of the last eight points in the final 1:29 of the ball game to seal the deal.
Oraeme led their charge with 26 points, 20 rebounds and five blocked shots for Mapúa, while Josan Nimes tallied a season-best 24 points, six rebounds and six assists. Exeqiel Biteng added 12 markers for the Cardinals.
“I just told my teammates let’s just do one—take care of the ball, or play defense. But we weren’t playing defense, or taking care of the ball. We should have been doing fine, but we were giving away both and they were coming back fast,” Nimes said.
“We’ve had games like this before, but we have to learn from this. Our guards have to step up and take leadership,” he added.
Alanes and Ayaay both produced career-high numbers with 27 and 22 points, respectively, in the Pirates’ losing cause.
After EAC and SSC engaged in a back-and-forth battle in the first three periods, the Generals fired timely treys from the troika of Raymund Pascua, Fernan Mejos and Francis Munsayac to begin their pullaway with a 12-point, 66-54 lead.
However, Jamil Ortuoste had one last ace on his sleeve in scoring 10 points during their 15-2 spurt entering the final minute of the contest to come within one point, 69-70.
But EAC had the final say, with returning guard Remy Morada knocking down a crucial desperation trey with the shot clock running down, and center Hamadou Laminou scoring on a putback lay-up to stop the bleeding and put the game away for good.
Laminou led the Generals’ attack with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Sidney Nelson Onwubere tallied 13 points and 14 rebounds before fouling out.
“We’re still in the process of building up the team, since halos lahat bago pa. We just talked it over on what happened in the last few games, ‘yung mga bad habits namin. Ito ang unang resulta ng mga pinag-usapan namin,” EAC Head Coach Andy de Guzman said.
“Issue din ang consistency namin. Sabi ng iba, hanggang second quarter lang ang team ng EAC. I gave the boys the challenge, kausap ko sila na huwag kami pumayag na tapos agad ang basketball ng EAC. But now, they responded well”
Sophomore forward Michael Calisaan topped San Sebastian’s cause with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Ortuoste added 17 points, seven rebounds, and three steals in the loss.
Also on Friday, Malayan High School of Science and Immaculate Conception Academy (ICA) of Cavite pulled off respective wins to further improve their standing in the tightly contested juniors’ hoops wars.
The Red Robins seized control of their match from the get-go to rout LPU Cavite, 76-64. Forward Mike Enriquez tallied 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four steals, and one blocked shot, while Sherwin Concepcion added 14 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks to their effort.
On the other hand, the Brigadiers went on a furious 28-13 rally in the first quarter against San Sebastian to set the pace and escape with an 81-67 result. Guard Mark Castillo fired 27 points on nine-for-20 shooting from the field with nine steals in the contest to lead ICA.
Image credits: NONOY LACZA