General bucks eligibility row as UPIS ekes out win vs UST

MANILA, Philippines — Jozhua General suited up and even started for University of the Philippines Integrated School on Saturday, made possible by a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the ineligibility ruling by the UAAP.

The UAAP board ruled that General could no longer play in the juniors division of the competition after he exhausted five years of eligibility but his parents secured a TRO from a Quezon City regional trial court on Friday.

As a result, General played for UP on Saturday and came up with two points, 10 rebounds and two assists for UPIS in its 73-71 win over University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP season 76 juniors’ basketball tournament.

The UAAP board said in a statement on Saturday that it would “honor the TRO and will allow Joshua General to play in UPIS’s games covered by the 20-day period.”

The board will tackle all concerns about the TRO on its regular board meeting on August 22, said UAAP secretary-treasurer Malou Isip.

The league said that General’s highschool eligibility started when he graduated from a highschool in Naga in 2008 and attended San Beda Taytay as a highschool freshman a few months after that.

But UPIS countered that General’s eligibility should start with his graduation from Lourdes School-Mandaluyong, where he attended grade 7, in 2010, as reported by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The Junior Maroons’ 89-87 quardruple overtime win over Adamson in the first round of the eliminations was forfeited.