NCAA: Graduating JP Maguliano a big reason for EAC’s turnaround

EAC’s JP Maguliano works the post against Letran in the NCAA Season 99 men’s basketball tournament.-NCAA PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Emilio Aguinaldo College was one of the cellar dwellers in the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball tournament.

That’s not the case in Season 99 thanks in large part due to graduating forward JP Maguliano.

After the Generals’ 82-69 victory over defending champion Letran at San Juan Arena on Friday, assistant coach Gonzalo Catalan Jr. lauded Maguliano’s efforts that knocked the Knights out of Final Four contention.

“Sometimes we talk in practice and I tell him, this is your last year in the NCAA so you need to make a statement,” Catalan Jr. said in Filipino.

“He has to back up his statement that we’d be a team that would make it difficult for everyone and fortunately, the kid reacted well.”

Maguliano finished with a near-double-double of 20 points and nine rebounds with a block to boot for EAC.

His big game, however, was not a fluke.

For the season, Maguliano is averaging 14.6 points, 9.33 boards and 2.5 assists per outing to help EAC to a 7-5 record.

Catalan Jr., though, reiterated that he shouldn’t be the only producer for offense with the Generals in a tight race for a Final Four spot.

“I keep telling them that it can’t always be JP inside. He’s human, he gets tired too so our third and second stringers need to step up so it’s a good thing that they did work and step up. They may not have helped on offense but they surely helped on defense.”

Catalan also commended EAC’s other players for coming through despite the absence of head coach Jerson Cabiltes, who was under the weather.

“When we went to EAC, we saw that they’re (including Maguliano) small but they are all capable. We needed to instill our system in their offense and defense and they weren’t hard to teach and they’re not uncoachable.”

“They’re smart and we’re all really just underdogs in height compared to other teams.”