Emilio Aguinaldo College avoided another major collapse in the endgame, eking out a 59-53 escape of University of Perpetual Help System DALTA in NCAA Season 98 on Tuesday.
Art Cosa led the way with 14 points and eight rebounds while JC Luciano tallied 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two steals for the Generals.
EAC, who in their last game lost to JRU on a buzzer-beater, improved to 2-13 while Perpetual dropped its third game in a row to go 5-9.
The Generals put in the work early as they held a 34-26 lead at the break behind Cosa, who had 10 points and six boards, and Allen Liwag, who posted six points and seven rebounds in the first half alone.
But EAC was dealt some major blows when their two top big men in Nat Cosejo and Liwag went down with injuries late in the second period and early in the third, respectively.
Still, the embattled Generals managed to control the game, staying in the lead at the end of the third canto with a 47-39 cushion.
But Rey Barcuma injected life to Perpetual after fueling a furious 12-0 run to pull the ALTAs to within two, 53-51, with 3:58 left in the payoff period.
It went to a tight affair from that point on with John Abis bringing the Altas to 55-53, but they were whistled for a shotclock violation with 31.4 ticks left.
Joshua Tolentino then nailed a long jumper over Jielo Razon to put EAC up by four, 57-53, before Cosa sealed the win with two free throws.
The scores:
EAC 59 - Cosa 14, Luciano 12, Balowa 10, Liwag 6, Dominguez 6, Tolentino 5, Cosejo 4, Upad 2, Quinal 0, Ad. Doria 0, An. Doria 0, Angeles 0, Bacud 0.
Perpetual 53 - Barcuma 12, Omega 11, Nitura 8, Razon 5, Abis 3, Egan 3, Roque 3, Ferreras 2, Flores 2, Boral 2, Movida 2, Pagaran 0, Nunez 0, Cuevas 0, Martel 0.
Quarters: 19-13, 34-26, 47-39, 59-53.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
