Games today:

(Filoil EcoOil Centre)

11 a.m. — Lyceum 

vs San Sebastian

2:30 p.m. — JRU vs EAC

Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) faces an uphill battle as it takes on Jose Rizal University (JRU) in the play-in of Season 101 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

Tip-off starts at 2:30 p.m. as the Generals look to clinch one of the two remaining quarterfinal slots in the Grand Old League against the Heavy Bombers.

EAC head coach Jerson Cabiltes said if they want to succeed in this one-game playoff, they need to finish strong.

The Generals finished the elimination round with a 4-9 win-loss record in Group B and are currently on a five-game losing streak.

“We need to finish games. In our last three games, we led from the first to the third quarter,” Cabiltes told DAILY TRIBUNE.

“In our second round game, JRU beat us on rebounding and we lost by three points. We need to be better on the rebounding side.”

The winner in the EAC-JRU match will face Group A top seed University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, which holds a twice-to-beat advantage, on Thursday.

In the 11 a.m. match, Lyceum of the Philippines University takes on San Sebastian College in a separate play-in match.

The winner between the Pirates and Stags will take on Group B leader San Beda University in the quarterfinal.

Eyes will be on EAC as it goes up against JRU, which finished with a 6-7 card in Group B.

The Generals won against the Bombers, 68-65, last 7 October but lost in the second match, 66-69, last 12 November.

Jude Bagay will be EAC’s main man after averaging 12.15 points while Wilar Oftana had 11.91 points.

Shawn Argente will be a main threat with 14.25 points for JRU while Sean Salvador averaged 12.92 points.