EAC snaps five-game skid, fends off San Sebastian

Francis Munsayac vs Ryan Costelo. Photo by Tristan Rafael Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Polish those brass stars as Emilio Aguinaldo College snaps its dry spell at the expense of San Sebastian College-Recoletos, 77-71, in the seniors basketball tournament of NCAA Season 91 Friday at San Juan Arena.

As the Generals chalked up its first win in six games, they joined the Stags and College of St. Benilde with 1-5 records in the cellar of the standings.

EAC weathered a 12-2 Stags run, 10 points courtesy of Jamil Ortuoste as they closed the gap to 70-69, when Jose Morada knocked in a booming triple with 1:15 remaining to give the Generals a 73-69 cushion.

Generals head coach Andy de Guzman was ecstatic with his first NCAA win and was thankful for his team for keeping its composure during the Ortuoste storm.

“We’re not losing hope we can turn this around,” said De Guzman, who replaced Gerry Esplana as the Generals head coach. “Actually we did not practice last Monday, we just talked on what went wrong.”

He added: “What we talked about, it showed here in this game.”

EAC had a comfortable 68-57 lead midway through the fourth when Ortuoste exploded, giving the Stags a huge sigh of relief.

Laminou Hamidou ensured the Generals’ first win with a follow-up lay-in for a 75-69 EAC lead with 36.4 seconds remaining.

Hamidou led EAC with 18 points and 12 boards while Sidney Onwubere finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Michael Calisaan led the Stags with 19 points and 10 boards.