Red Lions devour Generals

Games today:

(Filoil EcoOil Centre)

11 a.m. — San Sebastian vs JRU

2:30 p.m. — Perpetual vs Letran

San Beda University pummeled Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC), 81-64, for its third win in Season 101 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament Tuesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre. 

Janti Miller almost had a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds as the Red Lions now hold a 3-1 win-loss record in Group B.

The 21-year-old Filipino-American guard from Fairfield, California said he was fueled by their 66-67 defeat at the hands of Jose Rizal University last Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“That wasn’t how we played at all. Losing by one? That hurts,” Miller said.

“We came in practice, hungry to bounce back and this one was a good bounce back win for us.”

A triple by Penny Estacio with 4:56 left in the second quarter punctuated a 12-3 run that made a 21-14 lead into a 33-17 advantage for San Beda and never looked back.

Jimuel Reyes even gave the Lions their biggest lead of the game, 69-46, after draining a jumper with 7:44 left in the fourth period.

Helping Miller in San Beda’s offense were Jomel Puno, who scored 12 points off the bench while Zedjay Etulle and Nygel Gonzales finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Generals, meanwhile, tripped to a 1-3 record. 

No one on the EAC side turned in a double-digit outing with Wilmar Oftana and Nico Quinal leading the way with nine points each in the loss.

Arellano pulled off an emphatic 92-65 victory over Arellano University in the first game.

Renzo Abiera led the Chiefs with 16 points as they bounced back from a heartbreaking 67-72 loss to University of Perpetual Help System Dalta over the weekend.

Head coach Chico Manabat said outpacing the Pirates was their plan as they improved to a 2-2 win-loss record in Group A.

“We might not have bigs but my players gave their hearts out. We know Lyceum likes to run so we decided to play small ball,” said Manabat, an assistant coach for Converge in the Philippine Basketball Association.

T-Mc Ongotan, registered a triple-double in the Arellano win as he dropped 13 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

The Pirates remained winless in the tournament after four games but John Barba was a bright spot with 18 points and had eight boards.