Ousted Generals stall Scorpions semis bid

MANILA, Philippines — Batangas-Emilio Aguinaldo College overcame an early 24-point deficit then came up big down the stretch to stun fancied Centro Escolar University, 89-87, in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the Pasig City Sports Center yesterday.

Pint-sized guard Cedric de Joya fired seven of the Batangas-EAC’s last 11 points, including a triple in the last 42.3 seconds that shoved the Generals to an 87-85 edge then Cedrick Ablaza and Jerome Garcia split both their charities to preserve the surprise victory for the also-ran squad that stymied the Scorpions’ bid for an outright semifinal slot.

The Scorpions looked headed for a cruise after storming to a 44-20 lead in the second quarter but faltered and choked in the face of the Generals’ fiery comeback.

It was only Batangas-EAC’s second win against eight defeats while dealing CEU its third loss against eight wins, enabling Akari-Adamson and Marinerong Pilipino to move on top with identical 8-2 cards.

Meanwhile, Go for Gold closed its maiden campaign on a high-note, blasting AMA Online Education, 122-82, for a 5-6 card.

The Scratchers took charge early, 31-13, then sustained their charge all the way to the finish to complete the 40-point romp.

Go for Gold hit 20 of its 50 three-point tries to overwhelm AMA with Matt Salem draining four triples for 18 points on top of 10 rebounds.

Jimboy Pasturan also had 18 markers, Paul Desiderio added 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, Carlo Young scored 15 built on five treys, Yankee Haruna logged 14 while Rob Ocampo had 13 for Go for Gold.

Carlo Escalambre topscored with 24 points while Kyles Lao and MC Velasquez combined for 31 points for AMA (1-9) which takes on playoff-bound Gamboa Coffee Mix-St. Clare on Thursday for its last elims assignment.

CEU, which opted to sit out Rod Ebondo to rest a nagging back injury, now must hope either an Akari-Adamson or Marinerong Pilipino drop their respective final elims games to gain automatic entry to the semis.

“We fell to a bad start but thankfully, we were able to recover,” said Batangas-EAC coach Ariel Sison. “At least our preparations during the Holy Week were not put to waste. Luckily, Ebondo did not play. We were not expecting that as we prepared against him.”