Generals ground Cardinals; Surging Chiefs edge Knights

MANILA, Philippines - Kieth Agovida and American rookie Dioncee Holts took charge in the stretch as Arellano U came from behind to nip Letran, 63-62, and close in on leader San Beda in the 90th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday.

Agovida delivered the last six points, including the game-winner – a putback off his own miss with less than two minutes to go – while Holts preserved Agovida’s endgame heroics with a block off Rey Publico in the dying seconds, giving the Chiefs their best start in the years – a 6-2 card.

“They made the best plays when we needed them. Kieth and Dioncee just bailed us out,” said Arellano U coach Jerry Codinera, whose Chiefs moved just behind the pacesetting San Beda Red Lions (6-1).

While Agovida finished with a team-high 14 points and Holts scored nine markers, 12 rebounds and two blocks, Jiovani Jalalon backed them up with 13 points.

The rookie transferee out of Informatics also pulled down nine rebounds and five assists before fouling out with still over seven minutes left in the contest after incurring back-to-back fouls.

The Knights quickly pounced on Jalalon’s ouster as they outscored the Chiefs, 11-4, in the next six minutes to turn a 51-57 deficit into a 62-61 lead highlighted by Kevin Racal’s triple from the left baseline.

But the Chiefs refused to give up as Agovida scored what turned out to be the game-winning basket – a putback of his own two missed lay ups before Holts foiled Publico from stealing the win with a block.

“We had a setback when Jalalon fouled out. But we’re happy Kieth hit the final basket and Holts made that block,” said Codinera, himself a noted shot block artist during his PBA days.

The victory also erased the stigma of the Chiefs’ heartbreaking 98-99 triple-overtime loss to the Jose Rizal U Bombers last Friday, a setback Codinera used as motivation for his wards.

“We knew of the consequence and I use it as motivation to the guys,” said Codinera, seeking to steer Arellano to a first ever Final Four appearance since it joined the league five seasons ago.

Racal and Cruz led the Knights with 14 and 12 points, respectively, but the Letran gunners opted to play decoy instead of taking the big shots in the crunch.

The Knights fell to 2-5.
Later in the day, John Tayongtong and Jan Jamon exploded with 23 and 21 points, respectively, as Emilio Aguinaldo dumped Mapua, 89-78, to snap out of a five-game losing skein and tie Letran at eighth.

The Cardinals tumbled to their seventh defeat against a win.