Bombers survive hard-fighting Generals in wild finish

MANILA, Philippines – Jose Rizal University repulsed a pesky Emilio Aguinaldo College squad in a wild finish to take an 85-79 victory in the Season 89 of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City on Monday.

JRU had a penchant for opening quarters strong in this game and did so in the fourth canto with a 12-4 run to give them a 75-63 lead with 7:19 remaining.

Michael Mabulac one of the few returning players for JRU - which features 11 rookies in its lineup - scored on a back to back conversion to give the Heavy Bombers their biggest lead 83-69 with 3:41 left.

EAC though mounted a late comeback in a wild finish featuring numerous jump balls and costly turnovers from JRU but did not have enough time to steal the game.

Phil Paniamogan erupted for a game-high 23 points while Mabulac and Marco Balagtas chipped in 16 and 14 points respectively for the Kalentong-based squad’s third win in five games.

After a nip and tuck first quarter affair that saw the two teams battle to a 21-all deadlock, JRU opened the second period with an 8-0 run capped by a Paniamogan lay-up to take a 29-21 lead at the 6:28 mark.

Jan Jamon stopped the bleeding with a 12-footer from the baseline to give the Generals their first points in the second quarter. EAC closed the first half with a 7-0 zip to cut the lead 34-37 at the break.

JRU doubled their turnover points with a 12-6 advantage, in large part due to their suffocating full court pressing defense.

Jose Rizal started the third quarter strong to take a 44-34 lead after a quick 7-0 run capped by a Gio Lasquety three pointer in less than two minutes.

Cameroon import Happi of Generals flexed his muscle inside and scored 12 third quarter points but the Bombers collectively answered back and eventually took a 63-59 advantage at the onset of the payoff period.

Happi paced the Generals with 20 markers while John Arquero and Jolas Paguia chipped in 14 and 12 points respectively and dropped their fourth loss in five games.