EAC escapes Arellano to claim solo third in NCAA

Sidney Onwubere. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

Emilio Aguinaldo College held off Arellano, 85-79 to claim solo third place in the NCAA Season 93 men’s basketball tournament Tuesday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Despite losing Hamadou Laminou to a knee injury late in the first quarter, Sidney Onwubere led the Generals with 17 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, and three blocks for their back-to-back wins.

“That’s what we are actually preparing for, to get consecutive wins. It’s something that we’re unable to do in the NCAA and we prepared hard to get that. We’re thankful enough to finally get it,” said coach Ariel Sison whose team rose to 3-2.

Juju Bautista racked up 14 markers, four boards, three dimes, and two rejections before fouling out at the 2:42 mark of the fourth quarter, while Jerome Garcia shot 3-of-8 from threes to nab 13 points.

EAC took hold of an 11-point lead, 79-68, with an Onwubere trey with 3:23 remaining, but Kent Salado kept the Chiefs in the game, slicing the lead to as low as two, 81-79, after a pair of Lervin Flores freebies with 49.2 ticks left.

Onwubere kept the door wide open for Arellano after he split his freebies, but the Generals trapped Kent Salado to a corner and forced him to commit a turnover, which led to  two freethrows from Raymund Pascua with 16.4 to go.

Salado paced the Chiefs with 24 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals, but his efforts weren’t enough as his side succumbed to their third straight loss and fell to 2-4.

Allen Enriquez got 17 markers and seven boards, while Rence Alcoriza had 12 in the loss.

The Scores:

EAC 85 – Onwubere 17, Bautista 14, Garcia 13, Munsayac 11, Laminou 8, Diego 6, Guzman 6, Pascua 5, Corilla 3, Neri 2, Tampoc 0, J. Mendoza 0, I. Mendoza 0.

ARELLANO 79 – Salado 24, Enriquez 17, Alcoriza 12, Flores 7, Dela Cruz 5, Meca 3, Villoria 3, Nicholls 3, Concepcion 3, Cañete 2, Abanes 0, Ongolo Ongolo 0.

Quarters: 22-20, 43-43, 67-59, 85-79.