National U’s Jay-J Alejando. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO/TRISTAN TAMAYO
J-Jay Alejandro cashed in on his fastbreak with 16.5 seconds to spare to lift National University to an 87-85 win over the gritty Emilio Aguinaldo College in the 2017 Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup Friday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
The Bulldogs tracked down Francis Munsayac’s three-point miss late which led to Alejandro skying in for the game-winning lay-up over the diminutive guard late.
The Generals still had their chances in the clutch, but Juju Bautista missed two chances from point-blank as time expired for EAC.
Despite the victory, coach Jamike Jarin was far from satisfied with the way NU played.
“I’d like to forget that we played well because we didn’t deserve to win. With the way we played, we didn’t deserve to win,” he said. “The reason why the result went to our side is (EAC) got tired. If it was a five-quarter game, we would have won because they would just tire out.”
Alejandro paced the Bulldogs with 25 points on a 5-of-8 shooting from threes, to go with nine rebounds, and four assists.
Matt Salem added 20 markers and seven boards, while Senegalese big man Issa Gaye had eight points and seven rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
EAC missed the services of Sidney Onwubere, who suffered a sprained right ankle in the second quarter.
Jerome Garcia topped the Generals with 16 points, four rebounds, and three steals, while Hamadou Laminou had a double-double of 15 markers, 18 boards, and six blocks in the loss.
The Scores:
NU 87 – Alejandro 25, Salem 20, Gaye 8, Rangel 8, Yu 6, Abatayo 5, Diputado 4, Galvelo 3, Joson 2, Flores 2, Mosqueda 2, Lastimosa 2, Bartlett 0, Morido 0, Cauilan 0, Go 0, Aquino 0, Sistoza 0.
EAC 85 – Garcia 16, Laminou 15, Munsayac 14, Diego 11, Bautista 7, I. Mendoza 6, Neri 5, Onwubere 4, J. Mendoza 4, Bugarin 2, Guzman 1, Corilla 0, Gonzales 0, Tampoc 0, Pascua 0.
Quarters: 15-29, 44-50, 70-65, 87-85.