Underdogs’ day: Arellano stuns top-ranked CSB; JRU rises past EAC

MANILA, Philippines – Arellano continued its giant-slaying ways in the NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball tournament, taking down the top-ranked College of St. Benilde in a 73-71 thriller at the FilOil EcoOil Centre on Friday, October 4.

With their last win coming against defending champion San Beda, the Chiefs wrapped up their first-round campaign with a 3-6 record and sent the Blazers down to a 6-2 slate for a share of the top spot with Mapua.

Jeadan Ongotan led the upset bid with 16 points in just 20 minutes on 5-of-10 shooting, to go with 4 rebounds and 2 assists, while Ernest Geronimo scored 14 on a near-perfect 6-of-7 clip.

Possible early MVP candidate Allen Liwag paced Benilde with a huge 18-point, 17-board double-double in the sorry loss, one game after head coach Charles Tiu called the Blazers’ 96-94 overtime escape of lowly San Sebastian “the worst win of his life.”

The underdogs’ streak continued through the second game of the double-header as the JRU Heavy Bombers routed up-and-down EAC, 75-63, to tie the Generals with identical 3-5 records.

Joshua Guiab led the win with a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double, backstopped by 13 and 12 points, respectively, from Robin Bernardo and Shawn Argente.

King Gurtiza paced the loss with 15 points, while Paolo Bagay made the most of a 14-minute run with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

The Scores

First Game

Arellano 73 – Ongotan 16, Geronimo 14, Abiera 10, Capulong 8, Valencia 8, Vinoya 7, Hernal 5, Libang 4, Borromeo 1, Dela Cruz 0, Camay 0.

CSB 71 – Liwag 18, Cometa 15, Sanchez 10, Torres 9, Oli 7, Ondoa 3, Morales 3, Ancheta 2, Cajucom 2, Turco 2, Sangco 0, Eusebio 0.

Quarters: 23-11, 40-39, 56-58, 73-71.

Second Game

JRU 75 – Guiab 19, Bernardo 13, Argente 12, Raymundo 8, Benitez 8, De Leon 5, Garcia 5, Ferrer 3, Barrera 2, Samontanes 0, Pangilinan 0, Panapanaan 0, Mosqueda 0, Sarmiento 0, De Jesus 0.

EAC 63 – Gurtiza 15, Bagay 12, Oftana 7, Lucero 6, Pagsanjan 5, Doromal 4, Luciano 4, Ochavo 4, Quinal 4, Loristo 2, Jacob 0, Umpad 0, Postanes 0, Manacho 0, Angeles 0.

Quarters: 16-15, 36-32, 50-49, 75-63.

– Rappler.com