The Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers squandered a 13-point lead, weathered a big comeback and leaned on the endgame brilliance of John de los Santos and Agem Miranda to pull off a 61-60 stopping of the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals on Friday at the FilOil-EcoOil Arena in San Juan.
De los Santos made a good decision to pass the ball to Miranda, who sank a layup with a second left, as the Heavy Bombers arrested a three-game skid in the 98th National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament.
The Generals, led by Nat Cosejo with 16 points, had a chance to score their second win in the season after Joshua Tolentino’s back-to-back baskets in the final 13 seconds pushed them out of a 56-all all deadlock and into a 60-56 advantage.
But a triple from JRU’s John Amores at the 11-second mark put them to within 59-60, with two bungled charities by EAC’s Adrian Balowa in the remaining six seconds giving the Heavy Bombers the chance to map out a winning play before time expired.
The winning play came after De los Santos rebounded off Balowa’s missed charities, sending JRU to their sixth win in 11 matches, and allowing them to stay in fifth spot and in contention for the Final Four semifinals.
“Nag-usap kami ni JL (De los Santos). Alam namin, ide-deny nila si Ry (De la Rosa). So, wala na kaming option kundi sa ilalim. Hayun, sabi ko, ipasa sa akin. Tinira ko,” said Miranda, who finished with 12 points with De la Rosa.
“Nagpapasalamat ako sa nangyari. Nabigyan ako ng divine intervention sa last six seconds para makag-design pa ng play,” said JRU coach Louie Gonzales.