By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Former Santa Clarita International School of Iloilo superstar guard Ralph Bajon put up an impressive performance against Mapua University and led Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) to an 80-63 win during the 2022 Filoil Ecooil Preseason Cup.
The pride of Barotac Nuevo was locked in against Mapua and top-scored the ball game with 20 big points including three drained shots from downtown.
Bajon spearheaded EAC’s momentum-clinching offensive run at the start of the final canto and helped their lead balloon to as much as 20 points, 74-54.
Aside from his sweet-shooting from the three-point area, Bajon’s relentlessness in penetrating the hole made things easier for EAC to pile up the points.
The Ilonggo combo guard immediately caught fire in the first half that helped EAC establish their desired tempo against Mapua’s style of play.
“Napakalaking bagay especially that we won four games against a very good team. We were just hoping nga lang sana kanina na kumpleto ang Mapua, but certainly, the game is a good fight and we learn a lot from it, from this game,” said EAC head coach Oliver Bunyi.
Kris Gurtiza and JC Luciano also showed out in the must-win game and backstopped Bajon with 15 and 14 points respectively.
Jopet Soriano had a great game for Mapua and did it all after tallying 18 points and nine rebounds but was not enough to spark a comeback win.
With the win, EAC improved to four wins and four losses in Group A of the tournament while the Cardinals are yet to earn their first-ever win.
