JRU bucks shaky start, blasts AUF

MANILA, Philippines - John Agas came off the bench to fire 13 points as Jose Rizal University shook off a shaky first half stint to demolish Angeles U Foundation, 82-53, and regain a piece of the lead in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

With starters John Wilson, Mark Cagoco and Marvin Hayes struggling in the early going, the Heavy Bombers failed to shake off the lowly Great Danes in the first half, leading by just eight. But they settled down at resumption of the contest and built double-digit spreads before coasting to their fifth straight victory to catch the Stags at the helm.

Agas highlighted his impressive game with three triples and scattered seven points in the fourth quarter as he complemented with James Sena, the lone bright spot in JRU’s starting roster.

Sena came away with 19 points as Wilson, Cagoco and Hayes struggled for a combined 27-point output, way below their norms.

The troika muffed 18 of the 28 shots they took from the field.

“It was tougher than what the final score indicated because I really had to dig deeply from my bench. I also had to give credit to John Agas, who made the biggest impact.”

The Great Danes gave the Bombers some fight early in the game after the former trailed the latter by only eight points, 27-35, at the break.

That forced Vanguardia to go deep to his bench, and thankfully, got Agas to contribute significantly by scoring seven of his total points in the fourth quarter when Jose Rizal blew the game out of reach.

AUF fell to its fourth loss against a win.

In the other game, Emilio Aguinaldo brought down Mapua, 77-69, to seal its first win after dropping its first four outings.

It was also the Cardinals’ fourth setback against a win.