One Day Later: EAC vs CSB, AU vs UPHSD

In the thick of things- with the Blazers going small, Jonathan Grey was hard to stop (pic source)

CSB 80 - EAC 68
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Player of the Game : It amazes me how little playing time Jonathan Grey gets, and at the same time, how he does so much with so little compared to some of his other teammates. In just 23 minutes of play, Grey carried the CSB offense, tallying 17 points on 6 of 10 shooting, and hauling own 12 rebounds. He also turned the ball over just once that entire time.

EAC Positives :

• After pulling a disappearing act in their previous game, Claude Cubo made a return engagement, posting 22 points and 10 rebounds, plus swatting four shots. Too bad he scored just five points in the second and third quarters, when CSB really started pulling away. 
• Coming into the game averaging 22 turnovers, the Generals made just 15 in this game, pouncing instead on the 19 mistakes of Benilde and getting 21 turnover points out of it

EAC Negatives :

• After a great season debut in which he scored 18 points and made five assists, Milan Vargas has been awful, trying to adjust to playing alongside Joshua Torralba. Vargas had just three points in today's game on 1 of 6 shooting, bringing his season average to 6.8 points. He normed 11.6 a season ago.
• The Generals continued their poor shooting streak, slumping to 34 percent in today's game, as they went 5 of 22 from downtown.
• Aside from Cubo, Torralba and Jan Jamon, the rest of the team scored just 14 points. 

CSB Positives :

• The Blazers bucked a 10-point game by Carlo Lastimosa by getting points from a ton of sources, totaling six other players scoring seven or more points. 
• Despite the presence of Cubo and the ejection of Jan Tan, CSB still managed to outrebound their opponent 49 to 33, 18 to 14 on the offensive glass. 

CSB Negatives :

• Paolo Taha's seven turnovers led the Blazers, who totaled 19. As talented as he is, Taha played out of control today, driving into the heart of the defense and then finding himself with nowhere to go, leading to bad passes. 
• 12 assists today match a season-low in extra passes. With Lastimosa going cold again, he should have tried playing decoy, seeing as how the defense was out to get him, setting up open teammates.

All ball - Perpetual Help hung tight but ultimately came up short against Arellano (pic source)

AU 71 - UPHSD 65
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Player of the Game : With defenses keying in on him, Andrian Celada has been second-fiddle in terms of scoring for much of the season to Vergel Zulueta, but not in this game. Celada scored a season-high 23 points on 5 of 9 long-distance shooting, 7 of 14 overall. He also added three rebounds, an assist, a steal and two blocks in his 35 minute stint.

UPHSD Positives :

• The Altas came within a pair of triples of the win, sticking close with their opponent the entire game, never really conceding more than a 12-point lead. 
• Playing without Jeorge Allen's interior strength, Anthony Paulino and Harold Arboleda filled in admirably, totaling 17 rebounds. 
• Going full-on floor general mode, Chris Elopre tallied nine assists and three steals, attacking in transition and finding open teammates.

UPHSD Negatives :

• The Altas only got eight trips to the line for five converted charities, with Jett Vidal and Elopre not getting to the line at all. 
• Perpetual Help loves the long-ball but boy are they mediocre at it, finishing 8 of 24 from downtown. Late in the game, Vidal missed back to back triples that could have swung things to the Altas' side, especially as the Chiefs committed twin turnovers down the stretch.

AU Positives :

• Games like this are why the Chiefs go with the zone so much. The 2-3 enticed the Altas into taking 24 three-point shots, connecting on just eight. Arellano still edged them in terms of offensive rebounds too, 12-10. It also didn't stop AU from running, getting a 16-12 transition point advantage.
• Bringing Zulueta off the bench paid dividends as bringing Celada off the bench in their previous game did, as the shooter scored 17 markers off the bench, giving the reserves some punch. 
• Arellano's 20 to 8 edge in free throws was a big factor in the win, especially as they converted on 80 percent of the charities.

AU Negatives :

• Zulueta and Gerald Lapuz aside, the rest of the bench chipped in just six minutes, as John Casino and Chris Okpe made cameo appearances.
• Defensively, the Chiefs still surrendered 40 percent shooting, a season-high by the Altas, who came in norming 34.43 percent field goal shooting. 

NCAA Picking Record: 32-11