Emilio Aguinaldo College brough down defending champion Letran College, 75-65, in Season 99 National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament Sunday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
This was the first time the Generals won over the Knights in the NCAA since 7 August 2015.
Letran also suffered its worst start this season, eclipsing its two-game losing streak start in 2014 after absorbing its third straight defeat.
EAC broke a 65-65 deadlock in the fourth quarter with a 10-0 blast with King Gurtiza sinking a jumper with 24.8 seconds remaining to finish the game.
Generals head coach Jerson Cabiltes said they needed to stay composed against the Knights, who won the last three NCAA championships.
“We won’t be able to easily get a big league over our opponents so we just need to be composed in those kinds of moments,” Cabiltes said.
“Our mission is to get to the Final Four and we will take it one game at a time.”
Gurtiza fired 24 points for EAC while JP Maguliano delivered a double-double game of 14 points and 11 rebounds as the Generals sit at the second seed with a 2-0 win-loss record.
Deo Cuajao had 11 points for Letran.
In the second game, Jose Rizal University took a 70-61 win over Mapua University.
Patrick Ramos flirted with a double-double, firing 18 points and hauling nine rebounds as the Heavy Bombers improved to a 2-1 ledger.
San Beda University capped Sunday’s triple header with an 83-77 win over College of Saint Benilde.
Jacob Cortez dropped 20 points as the Red Lions are now tied at third place with JRU and Mapua with similar 2-1 slates.
