EAC Generals Head Coach Gerry Esplana. Noy Morcoso lll/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Emilio Aguinaldo College head coach Gerry Esplana wanted his Generals to get that first win right away to get their NCAA Season 90 going.
And his players responded with an 81-72 win over Wednesday at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
“Big factor is we must have a good start. We had a bad start prior to this season before piling up the wins. Good thing, we won our first game and hopefully we’d be able to follow this up with more wins,” Esplana said.
Cameroonian center Noube Happi made his imposing presence felt on both ends and wound up with 12 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks for EAC.
Five more Generals scored in double-digit scoring led by Jack Arquero and John Tayongtong, who both had 14 points apiece. Ariel Aguilar and veteran guard Jan Jamon tallied 13 each while Jerald Serrano chipped in with 11.
EAC used a big third quarter to pull away from CSB behind Aguilar and Tayongtong, who combined for almost half of their team’s 33-point output.
“Aguilar’s a former Brigadier. He just needs some fine tuning but his intensity and energy are there,” Esplana said of his rookie.
The Blazers’ Jose Saavedra led all scorers with 20 points on four-of-five shooting from long range.