Games today:
(Filoil EcoOil Centre)
12 p.m. — Perpetual Help vs JRU
3 p.m. — Saint Benilde vs Lyceum

Arellano survived a furious attempt by Emilio Aguinaldo College to pull off a shocker as the Chiefs rolled to a 63-58 victory yesterday at the start of Season 98 National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Staring at a 59-55 deficit with under a minute to go, Ralph Robin sank a triple to push the Generals to within inhaling distance.

But free throws by Darrel Menina and Axel Doromal in the dying seconds settled the issue for Arellano, becoming the first team to barge into the win column.

Arellano relied heavily on second chance points and fastbreak plays in getting past Emilio Aguinaldo.

Chiefs head coach Cholo Martin said his marching order in the game was simple: Run.

"They know what to do from practice. They need to run and make every offensive opportunity from the opponent's missed shots or from our rebounds," Martin said.

"They know how to run the play. That's our strategy in this game," Martin added.

Menina scored 15 points and five rebounds for Arellano while Doromal had 13 and six boards.

Big man Cade Flores flirted with a double double in his NCAA debut with nine points and 13 rebounds.

Allen Liwag led EAC with a double-double effort of 12 points and 13 boards as the Generals dropped to their first loss of the season.

Overall, Arellano's numbers showed why it emerged victorious.

The Chiefs had a 32.1 percent field goal percentage on a 25-of-78 shooting.

Arellano also dominated the perimeter with 22 points compared to the 12 by EAC.