Surgin' JRU ready vs Final 4 rival

MANILA, Philippines - Jose Rizal University shook off a shaky start and rallied from 10 points down to beat Emilio Aguinaldo College, 90-77, yesterday and close out its elimination campaign with six straight wins for 9-9 overall in the 87th NCAA seniors basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

The Heavy Bombers responded from a halftime dressing down from coach Vergel Meneses as they came through with a 19-0 run in the third that turned the game around.

“Bad start. We started out flat,” said Meneses who goaded his players to get their act together in the final 20 minutes as No. 4 JRU bids to go into the Final Four against either San Sebastian (16-1) or San Beda (15-2) on a winning streak.

“After halftime, I told them I want to win this game so we’ll have the momentum going into the Final Four. If we start like that in the Final Four either with SSC or San Beda, they’ll surely blow us away,” said Meneses who steered JRU to its second straight semis appearance.

The Bombers trailed at halftime, 32-42, and even faced a 36-44 deficit before coming up with a 19-0 blitz capped by a John Montemayor’s basket to wrest the lead, 55-44.

The Generals threatened to within at 62-64 at the 8:30 mark of the fourth but the Bombers countered with a 23-6 spurt to break away again, 87-68, 2:45 left in the contest.

John Lopez fired 17 points with five rebounds and five assists for JRU, complemented by Jeckster Apinan’s 14 and 12 each from Byron Villarias and Nate Matute.

Emilian Vargas (20) and Jan Jamon (16) led the way for EAC, which slipped to its fifth straight loss, ending the season with a league-worst 4-14.

In the second game, Lyceum edged College of St. Benilde in overtime, 94-89.

The Pirates finished with 7-11, tying Mapua for fifth place while the Blazers wound up with 6-12 for joint seventh with Arellano.