By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
After 15 years and 28 attempts, the Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) Generals finally defeated the San Beda Red Lions in the ongoing NCAA Season 100 Men’s Basketball Tournament on September 17, 2024.
In a jam-packed FilOil EcoOil Centre, the EAC crowd couldn’t be happier for their team after breaking such a long losing streak that dated back to 2009 when they decided to join the NCAA.
Spearheaded by the efforts of Harvey Pagsanjan who led the Generals with an efficient offensive performance of 14 points, EAC completed a bounce-back win and now improved to a 2-2 win-loss record.
The Generals immediately went off to the races in the first quarter to build the momentum that they needed to repel the Red Lions, 68-55.
EAC banked on its waxing hot offense to catch San Beda off guard and established a 21-14 advantage after the first 10 minutes of action.
Just when San Beda thought that their varied zone defense could halt EAC’s scoring rampage, the Generals quickly countered with their post-oriented attack to balloon their lead to 13 at the end of the half, 36-23.
All hell broke loose during the pivotal third quarter as the Generals reached its largest lead of the ball game at 29 points, leading to a panic zone for the Red Lions that just can’t buy a bucket in their possessions.
San Beda attempted to chip away their deficit in the final frame but EAC’s 29-point cushion proved to be too much that forced Red Lions’ head coach Yuri Escueta to wave the white flag with three minutes still remaining in the game.
Backstopping Pagsanjan during the historic win was JC Luciano who nearly garnered a double-double performance of 13 markers and eight rebounds.
“It’s a very good win because we needed this. Kung hindi, mababaon kami sa standings. So, fortunate at thank you na nanalo kami,” said EAC head coach Jerson Cabiltes.
