JRU Heavy Bombers wipe out EAC Generals
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Reporter
THE Jose Rizal University (JRU) Heavy Bombers got back at the .500 mark in Season 93 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) following its defeat yesterday of the Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) Generals, 77-48.
Using a strong charge late in the opening period and all the way to the second quarter, JRU controlled the tempo of the contest the rest of the way to book its third win in six matches in the ongoing season of the country’s longest-standing collegiate league.
Earlier in the day, the Perpetual Help Altas got back on the winning track while adding to the struggles of the Arellano Chiefs, 68-59.
EAC competed early against JRU but lost steam as the opening quarter wore on to surrender a 14-10 lead to the Heavy Bombers.
JRU picked up where it left off in the first canto in the succeeding period, pushing the Generals further back down.
Big man Abdouladif Poutouochi, Ervin Grospe and Abdul Sawat kept the Heavy Bombers’ offense steady.
And coupled with their team’s suffocating defense, JRU extended its lead, 37-21, by halftime.
The third period saw the Generals continued to unravel, unable to wiggle out of the Heavy Bombers’ pressing defense that limited them to just 11 points in the quarter, and their deficit ballooning to as much as 35 points, 65-30, with 20 seconds to go.
The score was at 65-32 by the end of the third canto.
EAC came out with more spirit in the payoff quarter, scoring the first seven points in the first three minutes to narrow its deficit, 65-39.
But guard Jed Mendoza and the rest of the Heavy Bombers would nip the run in the bud on the way to closing out the affair.
Grospe topscored for the Heavy Bombers with 19 points on top of five rebounds.
Mendoza had 15 points while Sawat had 10 points and nine boards.
Poutouochi finished with nine points and 10 rebounds before fouling out for JRU (3-3).
Jeric Diego and Jerome Garcia led EAC (3-4) with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
“This game showed what we are capable of doing if we come to play every time. I’m not scared of any team but I’m scared of which JRU team would show up,” said JRU coach Vergel Meneses postgame.
“Defense was big for us today because we never allowed them (EAC) to really get going,” he added.
Meanwhile, in the first game, Perpetual Help arrested its two-game losing streak by holding down free-falling Arellano.
Altas big man Prince Eze had a dominant outing, notching a monster double-double of 23 points (career-high) and 21 rebounds to go along with five blocks.
Gjay Ylagan and Gab Dagangon each had 11 and 10 points, respectively, and combined for 14 rebounds for the Altas, which had to buck a second half charge by the Chiefs to chalk up the win.
Arellano, for its part, was paced by Kent Salado with 14 points and five assists.
Richard Abanes added 13 points.
The win improved Las Piñas-based Perpetual Help to 3-4 while Arellano, which has now lost four straight, further slid to 2-5.
