Agovida, Holts bail out Chiefs vs Knights; Generals triumph

Games Wednesday

(The Arena, San Juan)

12 p.m. – San Beda vs Perpetual Help (jrs/srs)

4 p.m. – Lyceum vs San Sebastian (srs/jrs)

MANILA, Philippines – Keith Agovida and American rookie Dioncee Holts came through with key plays in the stretch as Arellano U turned back Letran, 63-62, to close in on leader San Beda in the 90th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City Monday.

Agovida accounted for his team's last six points, including his putback off his own miss with less than two minutes to go, while Holts blocked a shot by Rey Publico in the dying seconds to help the Chiefs escape with their sixth win in eight starts, half a point behind the five-peat-seeking Lions (6-1).

"They made the best plays when we needed it, they just bailed us out," said Arellano U coach Jerry Codinera referring to Agovida and Holts.

While Agovida finished with a team-best 14 points and Holts nine points, 12 boards and two blocks, Jiovani Jalalon did the rest.

The rookie transferee out of Informatics was having another field day with 13 points, nine boards and five assists until he was slapped with two straight fouls – one for pushing Letran co-captain Mark Cruz and another a technical foul for over-complaining about it – and fouled out with over seven minutes remaining in the game.

The Knights were quick to pounce on Jalalon's absence by outscoring the Chiefs, 11-4, in the next six minutes to turn a 57-51 deficit to a 62-61 lead that Kevin Racal, the other Letran skipper, capped with a booming triple from the left baseline.

It ended up as the last hurrah for last year's losing finalist as it couldn't score from there as Agovida scored what turned out the game-winning basket – a follow-up on his own two missed lay-ups – while Holts prevented Publica from stealing the win with that massive block.

"We had a setback when Jalalon fouled out. We're just happy Keith Agovida hit the final basket and Holts made that block," said Codinera.

Arellano U needed this win badly as it not only sent it closer to San Beda, the four-peat champion, but also prevented itself from falling losing its grip of No. 2 as a loss will allow Perpetual Help (4-2) to zoom to No. 2.

It also relieved the pain of Arellano U's heartbreaking 99-98 triple overtime defeat to Jose Rizal Friday.

"We knew of the consequence and I use it as motivation to the guys," said Codinera, who is looking at steering his team to a first ever Final Four appearance since it joined five seasons back.

Racal and Cruz led the Knights with 14 and 12 points, respectively, but they opted to play decoy instead of taking the big shots in the end as Letran let the victory slipped away.

The Knights fell to their fifth defeat against two wins.

In the other game, John Tayongtong and Jan Jamon exploded with 23 and 21 points as Emilio Aguinaldo dumped Mapua, 89-78, to snap out of a five-game losing skein and improve to 2-5.

The Cardinals fell to their seventh defeat against a win.

The scores:

First Game

ARELLANO 63 – Agovida 14, Jalalon 13, Pinto 9, Holts 9, Enriquez 8, Nicholls 3, Gumaru 2, Palma 2, Caperal 2, Hernandez 1, Salcedo 0, Ciriacruz 0, Bangga 0, Ortega 0

LETRAN 62 – Racal 14, Cruz 12, Nambatac 9, Ruaya 8, Publico 7, Dela Pena 4, Castro 3, Gabawan 3, Singontiko 2, Calvo 0, Tambeling 0, Apreku 0, Quinto 0

Quarterscores: 8-16; 31-34; 48-49; 63-62

Second Game

EAC 89 – Tayongtong 23, Jamon 21, Happi 17, Onwuberre 10, Aguilar 8, Arquero 4, Mejos 3, santos 2, Pascual 1, Serrano 0.

Mapua 78- – Eriobu 19, Biteng 16, Isit 12, Gabo 9, Estrella 7, Saitanan 6, Serrano 5, Cantos 4, Canaynay 0, Layug 0, Galoso 0, Villasenor 0.

Quarterscores: 24-12, 43-33, 61-54, 89-78.