San Beda, EAC secure gritty wins at Mayor Kirk Asis tourney

EAC Generals players and coaching staff posing for a group photo. | Contributed photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines— San Beda Red Lions and the Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) Generals earned hard-fought victories in the first day of the Mayor Kirk Asis Open Invitational Basketball Tournament 2024 in Bayugan City, Agusan Del Sur on Thursday, June 27.

This was after the Wengburs Apartelle and Ella Store-backed San Beda Red Lions defeated UAAP’s ARQ Builders/Adamson University Soaring Falcons, 65-64, in their first game on Thursday, while the Generals narrowly defeated Cebu’s University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers, 89-85.

Jomel Puno’s heroics lifted the reigning NCAA men’s basketball champions with his game-winning free throws with 0.9 seconds remaining in the game. The game was tied at 64-all with less than 20 seconds remaining when Puno earned a trip to the charity stripe while attempting a putback.

Puno went on to secure his first free throw attempt, but intentionally missed his second attempt to drain the clock. He finished with 16 points, while Cedrick Manzano top scored the winning squad with 17 points.

READ: Mayor Kirk Asis Open Invt’l hoop wars kicks off on Thursday

Meanwhile, the Generals bucked a slow first half to beat the reigning Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) men’s basketball champions who were fresh from defeating the Perpetual Altas, 80-68, on the same day.

UV’s demise came in the second half when their ever-reliable import, Lass Coulibaly, was ejected for sustaining back-to-back technical fouls.

Both teams had a back-and-forth battle in the fourth period that saw multiple lead changes until Nicol Gil Quinal canned a crucial triple that completely turned the game around in favor of EAC.

King Gurtiza paced EAC with 26 points, while UV’s Raul Gentallan finished with 16 points. /clorenciana