NCAA: EAC bags 2nd win, sends Mapua to 3rd straight loss

Emilio Aguinaldo College chalked up its second straight win after surviving Mapua, 89-85, in the NCAA Season 94 men’s basketball tournament Friday at Filoil Flying V Centre.

The Generals improved to a 2-4 record and jumped to a sixth-place tie with College of St. Benilde while the Cardinals dipped to 2-5.

With less than a minute remaining and only a point separating the two teams, 84-83, a mad scramble for the ball led to an unsportsmanlike foul on CJ Cadua for
his hit on Denniel Aguirre and oddly technical foul against the Cardinals.

Aguirre, though, missed the freebies with 13.5 seconds left while Jerome Garcia calmly did his job at the line with two free throws to put EAC up 85-83.

Garcia then made two more free throws push the lead to 87-83 with 8.3 seconds left.

Steady from the line this time, Generals head coach Ariel Sison said their miserable free throw shooting in the opening game has helped them in the long run as it prompted the team to put more work into their charities.

“Actually. the free throw disaster that happened to us in our opening game, we worked on that,” said Sison whose team went 20-of-28 from the free throw line.

Noah Lugo managed to salvage a floater for the Cardinals to cut the deficit to 87-85 with 4.3 seconds left but Sean Neri’s two freebie iced the win for the Generals.

Hamadou Laminou led EAC’s charge with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and six blocks while Jess Bautista also had a double-double with 13 points and 13 boards.

Garcia added 14 points, on 3-of-8 shooting from deep, while Jan Natividad and Cadua put up 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Lugo had a game-high 24 points for Mapua while Warren Bonifacio finished with 15 points, 11 boards, and six rebounds.