Games today:

(Filoil EcoOil Centre)

11 a.m. — Mapua vs Perpetual

2:30 p.m. — Saint Benilde vs Letran

Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) avoided a major meltdown after it pulled off a 68-65 victory over Jose Rizal University (JRU) to pick up their first win in Season 101 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament Tuesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

Tied at 65 with 1:34 left in the fourth quarter, Nico Quinal buried a big triple to give the Generals the win.

The Heavy Bombers had two attempts in the closing moments of the match to send the game into overtime but Shawn Argente and Justin Lozano missed their respective triples.

Generals head coach Jerson Cabiltes said they had to get as many wins as possible as they aim to finish at least the top 2 of Group B.

“I reminded the boys that if we lost this game, it would be hard for us to reach our short-term goal, which is to be in the Top 2 of our bracket,” coach Jerson Cabiltes said.

“We really had to dig deep to get the win and thankfully, we delivered in the end.”

EAC was ahead, 63-59, with 3:54 remaining in  the payoff period before JRU went on a short 6-2 blitz to freeze the count at 65-all.

The Generals leaned on their second unit as they scored 40 points off the bench against the Bombers

Wilmar Oftana led EAC with 13 points while Quinal and Oman Omandac had 10 points each coming off the bench.

Argente had 27 points for JRU but it wasn’t enough as they dropped to a 1-1 record in Group B.

Meanwhile, Renzo Abiera had a perfect game as he led Arellano University to an 82-66 win over San Sebastian College in the first game.

Abiera went 8-for-8 from the field as the Chiefs improved to a 1-1 slate in Group A.

Arellano coach Chico Manabat said it was a team effort on their side as everything clicked at the right time.

“The best thing about this is that all the kids and the coaches are working hard,” Manabat said.