NCAA: EAC squeaks past Lyceum, Mapua grabs share of No. 2

Emilio Aguinaldo College’s King Gurtiza.-NCAA PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—King Gurtiza came through in the clutch and helped Emilio Aguinaldo College avert disaster in a 90-88 escape of Lyceum in the NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball tournament on Sunday.

Gurtiza scored the game’s final five points, including a couple of game-winning free throws with 6.7 seconds left as the Generals salvaged a victory after blowing an 18-point lead.

“This a big win and it’s very important. If we lose today we’ll be at the bottom of the standing so I emphasized that we needed to give everything in this game,” said coach Jerson Cabiltes after another EAC nail-biter. “It’s an unpredictable season… Every game is vital so we have to treat it as a playoff game in each and every game.”

READ: NCAA: Letran survives in 3OT, Arellano stuns San Beda

“I told myself, ‘I practice this,’ so I was confident that I would shoot those free throws,” said Gurtiza.

Lyceum rallied from a 46-28 deficit and even took an 88-85 edge after a triple by Gyle Montano.

But that’s when Gurtiza, who collected 21 points, five rebounds and five assists, took over and gave the Generals their third win in seven tries.

Paolo Bagay helped EAC’s cause with 11 points and three rebounds while the guard tandem of Axel Doromal and Harvey Pagsanjan finished with nine and eight points, respectively.

John Barba finished with a double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Pirates, who dropped to an identical 3-4 card.

Mapua grabs share of No. 2

Mapua’s Clint Escamis.-NCAA PHOTO

Mapua turned back Jose Rizal University, 88-81, for a tie at No. 2.

Reigning MVP Clint Escamis continued his stellar play with 19 points, four rebounds and two assists for the Cardinals, who claimed a share of second place with the Letran Knights with similar 5-2 slates.

The troika of Lawrence Mangubat, Chris Hubilla and Mark Cuenco also stepped up for Mapua.

READ: NCAA: Benilde bounces back, Mapua extends Stags’ losing streak

Mangubat scored 16 points while Hubilla and Cuenco added 15 and 13 points, respectively.

The Heavy Bombers, meanwhile, fell to 2-5, tying Arellano at the bottom of the standings.

Joshua Guiab had 17 while Ivan Panapanaan tallied 15 points for JRU in the loss.