EMILIO Aguinaldo College finished the job this time, scoring a 59-53 win over Perpetual Help for its second win in the NCAA Season 98 seniors basketball tournament on Tuesday at Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Art Cosa came through for the Generals with 14 points and eight rebounds, while JC Luciano collected 12 points, nine boards, four assists, and two steals to weather the injuries suffered by Allen Liwag and Nat Cosejo.
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Liwag fired six points and seven rebounds in the first half as he helped EAC built an eight-point halftime lead, 34-26.
That lead grew to 14, 53-39, early in the fourth quarter before Perpetual staged a 12-0 rally to get to within two, 53-51, in the final 3:58 and set up the defensive battle in the clutch.
The Generals' defense, though, was more composed in the endgame as they forced the Altas to a 24-second shot clock violation in the final minute before Joshua Tolentino put the game under wraps with a huge jumper and Cosa canning two freebies.
EAC snapped a four-game skid to raise its record to 2-13, while sending Perpetual down to its third straight loss at 5-9.
Joey Barcuma led the Altas with 12 points, three rebounds, and two assists, as Mark Omega got 12 points and 11 boards in the loss.
The scores:
EAC 59 - Cosa 14, Luciano 12, Balowa 10, Liwag 6, Dominguez 6, Tolentino 5, Cosejo 4, Umpad 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, Flores 2, Boral 2, Movida 2, Pagaran 0, Nunez 0, Cuevas 0, Martel 0.
Quarterscores: 19-13; 34-26; 47-39; 59-53.
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