INSPIRED by the brilliance of John Pinto, Arellano U put a dent on Emilio Aguinaldo College’s Final Four aspirations with a thrilling 71-70 victory last night in the 89th NCAA basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The stocky guard fired 18 points, including what turned out to be the marginal basket with 46 seconds remaining, as the Chiefs notched their second straight victory to improve to 6-9.
The loss snapped a three-game winning run for the Generals, who stayed in fifth spot with an even 8-8 card, behind idle San Sebastian (8-6).
The Chiefs nearly squandered a 13-point lead at the start of the final period, going scoreless for a three-minute stretch after James Forrester’s triple boosted them to a 69-62 advantage with 3:45 remaining.
“We don’t want to think about the Final Four anymore as we just want to finish the season on a positive note,” said Pinto, who came to the press room in lieu of coach Koy Banal, who had to rush out of the arena to go to the Cuneta Astrodome to help coach Petron in the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals.
Pinto, who also finished with eight rebounds and nine assists, buried a jumper from the baseline to give Arellano a 71-69 cushion after John Tayongtong knocked in a triple to tie the game for the last time with 1:51 left.
Noube Happi split his free throws and Arellano turned the ball over on the next play, giving Tayongtong the chance to replicate his heroics in the win over St. Benilde Thursday when he sank a layup with a second left.
The Scores:
First Game
ARELLANO 71—Pinto 18, Caperal 14, Forrester 8, Agovida 8, Hernandez 6, Jalalon 5, Salcedo 4, Bagga 2, Gumaru 0, Cadavis 0.
EAC 70 —Jamon 21, Noube 17, Arquero 11, Tayongtong 6, Morada 5, Paguia 4, Onwubere 4, King 2, Munsayac 0.
Quarters:17-13, 39-31, 59-47, 71-70