MAPUA shook off its lethargic start and turned the game around to clip Emilio Aguinaldo College, 77-67, Saturday in the NCAA Season 98 seniors basketball tournament at Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Mapua vs EAC recap
Warren Bonifacio orchestrated the fightback as he led the Cardinals with 18 points, five rebounds, and three assists.
With him manning the paint, Mapua went on and used a 16-4 blast to open the fourth quarter and turned a close 57-53 lead to a commanding 73-57 edge capped off by Paolo Hernandez' three-point play with 4:43 remaining.
What's more impressive was that the Cardinals had to dug themselves from a listless opener where they fell behind, 23-8, after the first quarter and even stared at a 16-point hole, 43-27 late in the second period.
But the boys of coach Randy Alcantara tightened their defense after the halftime break and limited the Generals to just 24 points in the final 20 minutes of the game.
Marc Cuenco also added 16 points and eight boards, Adrian Nocum got 11 points and nine rebounds, and Toby Agustin had nine as Mapua won three of its last four games to rise to a 3-9 record.
On the flipside, it's a painful collapse for EAC which remained at the bottom of the barrel at 1-11.
It also wasted Nat Cosejo's 18 points, three rebounds, three assists, and three blocks before fouling out late.
Adrian Balowa had 11 points and five boards, and Allen Liwag put up nine points and nine rebounds for this season's hosts which lost back-to-back games.
The Scores:
MAPUA 77 - Bonifacio 18, Cuenco 16, Nocum 11, Agustin 9, Hernandez 8, Pido 6, Soriano 4, Mercado 3, Salenga 2, Garcia 0, Lacap 0, Igliane 0.
EAC 67 -- Cosejo 18, Balowa 11, Liwag 9, Maguliano 7, Cosa 7, Luciano 5, Tolentino 4, Bajon 4, Umpad 2, Ad. Doria 0, An. Doria 0, Angeles 0.
Quarters: 8-23, 30-43, 57-53, 77-67.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
