Five-man Generals earn Stags’ respect
Emilio Aguinaldo College only had five players available in a loss to San Sebastian on Monday with the rest suspended after being involved in the brawl against Mapua last week. Mark Giongco/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — San Sebastian beat undermanned Emilio Aguinaldo College, 107-73, in a battle of eliminated teams in the NCAA Season 90 men’s basketball tournament Monday at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The Stags’ starters played limited minutes and were led by Jovit dela Cruz, who scored a team-high 16 points.
The Generals only had five players available for the game with the rest still suspended due to their involvement in the infamous bench-clearing brawl against the Mapua Cardinals last week.
“Respect goes to those five guys Mejos, Indin, Serrano, General and Pascual,” said San Sebastian head coach Topex Robinson. “They just didn’t give up. They played their basketball and I couldn’t commend them more than just giving up a good fight.”
“I was kind of cautious with this game because it’s kind of a sensitive scenario but it was something we had to set aside and just play our basketball.”
Robinson didn’t field in his usual hitters in the second half with the team’s second and third stringers playing out the last two quarters.
EAC, which forfeited its previous game against Perpetual Help due to lack of players last Friday, welcomed Faustine Pascual back from a one-game ban and for the Generals head coach Gerry Esplana, having five guys is enough reason to push through and compete.
“We really wanted to play this game despite just having five players to show our respect for the league,” said Esplana. “We have no problems with the sanctions given to our players.”
“I just told my players to ‘give their very best’ and that ‘no matter what happens you have to fight.'”
The Generals made the most of what they have with all five players finishing with at least 11 points led by Jerald Serrano’s 20.
The final score may read that the Generals lost by 34 in a game where they fell behind by as much as 44 but it won’t show how hard they played right from the opening tip to the final buzzer.
“I thank my five players who played tonight. I told them after the game that they gave their best and that’s what I wanted to see from them,” said Esplana.
Al-Rashid Indin added a double-double performance for EAC with 17 points and 12 rebounds, Christ Mejos had 14 points while Jozhua General and Faustine wound up with 11.
The Generals ended their campaign with a 4-14 record.
The Stags chalked up a rare winning streak in a disappointing stint to improve its mark to 5-11 with a tough schedule ahead — playing against Jose Rizal University and Perpetual Help, who are in a tight race for the Final Four —to end their year.
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