On Tuesday, the EAC Generals did the unthinkable: they ended their 15-year misfortune against the ever-dominant and reigning NCAA kings San Beda Red Lions. As enormous as this feat is, head coach Jerson Cabiltes believes that beyond the rewarding feeling of being on the right side of history, EAC’s greater motivation was the urge to redeem themselves from a previous loss.

“We just wanted to bounce back– ignoring the fact that never pa namin natalo itong San Beda since EAC joined the NCAA,” head coach Jerson Cabiltes told GMA Regional TV News in a post-game interview. 

The historic 68-55 win was, to say the least, impressive in all aspects and from all angles. 

For context, EAC had never won a game against San Beda since joining the league in 2009, failing to overcome the winningest team in collegiate basketball in 27 straight occasions, then came September 17, 2024.

The Generals snapped their 27-game losing streak in sensational style. They manhandled the Red Lions from start to finish in a game that even saw the Generals build a gaping 29-point hole as San Beda continued to struggle from both ends of the floor.

But Cabiltes, himself a multi-titled basketball mind who promised to apply his winning ways to EAC when he assumed its head coaching duties in 2023, believes that a more material motivation was avenging a forgettable loss against the Benilde Blazers four days prior.

He was pertaining to the 22-point drubbing they received in the hands of the still undefeated Benilde squad of Coach Charles Tiu on September 14.

“Last year, we were so much concerned about ending that streak, right now we just wanted to bounce back after that dismal performance against CSB,” Cabiltes said, talking about their poor shooting performance against the Blazers where they shot only 30% from the field, including a forgettable 3 of 24 shooting from the three-point line.

Their win over San Beda was a totally different story. The Generals shot the lights out from downtown, torching their foes with 13 threes on the backs of by Harvey Pagsanjan's relentless offensive and JC Luciano's hot shooting. 

Their suffocating defense limited San Beda to only 35 points in three quarters of play, all the while exploding for 53. It was only in the fourth period when the Red Lions found some rythm and breathed life into their woeful offense, but the Generals had built enough cushion to be fazed by SBU's last hurrah.

"Actually we just wanted to finish the game, sabi ko nga bakit ang bagal ng oras? We really just wanted to finish strong, alam natin going into half time, I reminded the boys that San Beda was going to finish strong. Lucky for us we were hitting our shots from downtown. "

Now with a 2-2 record, Cabiltes has an optimistic promise to the EAC community. 

“We will fight and play hard each and every game for you.”