NCAA FINAL FOUR RACE: JRU Bombers, EAC Generals stay alive

Photo by August dela Cruz

MANILA, Philippines—Jose Rizal University and Emilio Aguinaldo College kept their slim semifinal hopes alive after downing separate opponents in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament Monday at the FilOil-Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Bombers, in danger of missing the Final Four for the first time in five seasons, banked on a solid second half to down the Arellano Chiefs, 79-69, in the first game.

Jeckster Apinan led five Bombers in double figures with 15 points on top of 10 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks.

The Generals later survived Perpetual Help’s second-half rally to post a 77-71 victory and forge a tie for seventh with the Bombers at 4-9.

Franz Chiong fired 14 of his 19 points in the second half for the Generals, who saw their 22-point led, 57-35, trimmed to just three, 74-71, time down to 36.9 seconds.

Elyzer Paguia had a double-double of 14 points and 11 boards while Russell Yaya scored the last three points for the Generals.

Unbeaten San Sebastian (13-0) and Letran (11-2) have already clinched the first two Final Four berths, while San Beda (10-1) has secured at least a semifinal playoff.

Both the Bombers and the Generals have to finish with nine wins to vie for the last Final Four slot.

So far, Mapua is fourth at 6-7, followed by Lyceum and St. Benilde at 5-8.

“Technically, we’re still in it,” said coach Gerry Esplana after his Generals snapped a five-game losing skid. “Good thing our veterans were there, we were able to hang on.”

Claude Cubo added 12 points to go with the double-double outputs of Jan Jamon (11 points and 12 rebounds) and Emilian Vargas (11 and 11 boards) for the Generals.

Arellano absorbed its 10th loss in 14 games even with coach Leo Isaac back at the bench after a scouting trip in the United States for over a week.

In juniors action, EAC downed Perpetual Help, 75-70, for a fourth-best 9-4 card, while Arellano nipped JRU, 55-53, to climb to seventh at 5-9.

The senior scores:
First Game
JOSE RIZAL 79—Apinan 15, Villarias 13, Kabigting 13, Almario 12, Montemayor 10, Lopez 8, Monserat 4, Matute 3, Paniamogan 1, Mendoza 0.
ARELLANO 69—Celada 19, Lapuz 12, Acidre 12, Pagayunan 7, Zulueta 6, Gumaru 5, Doligon 4, Palma 4, Del Rosario 0, Casiño 0.
Quarters: 17-16, 34-32, 56-45, 79-69
Second Game
EAC 77—Chiong 19, Paguia 14, Cubo 12, Vargas 11, Jamon 11, Yaya 10, Morada 0, King 0, Villegas 0, Sanchez 0, Diolanto 0.
PERPETUAL HELP 71—Arboleda 12, Vidal 10, Allen 10, Alano 9, Thompson 8, Sison 8, Paulino 4, Sumera 4, Elopre 4, Auncion 2, Tonggal 0, Jolangcob 0.
Quarters: 13-17, 33-30, 57-49, 77-71