One Day Later: CSJL vs EAC, MIT vs SBC

All out Alas - Kevin Alas continues to solidify his case for MVP (pic source)

CSJL 80 - EAC 58
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Player of the Game : Kevin Alas turned in his usual dynamic performance, leading both teams in scoring with 20 points, while also tallying 11 rebounds, six assists, and a block and a steal each. No doubt though, he had a bad shooting night, going 8 of 24 from the field, and 4 of 11 from the stripe.

The Numbers :

• EAC kept things close in the first half by out-rebounding Letran, 22-20, helping them knot the game at 35 all going into the break. By the end of the game, the Knights were able to assert themselves on the boards, finishing 46-41, 18-14 on the offensive glass.
• A huge disparity in the foul shooting bears mentioning, as Letran attempted 45 free throws to just 13 by the Generals, highlighting their different styles of play. Despite a horrid 49 percent clip at the line, the Knights still hit more free throws, 22 than all of what EAC attempted.
• Letran forced 32 turnovers on EAC, but their transition game was off as they only converted those errors into 13 turnover points. Contrast that with the 19 turnovers of Letran becoming 18 turnover points by EAC.
• Jam Cortes had tallied three flagrant-one fouls, thus earning him an automatic suspension for this game. That also prevents him from notching any post-season plumes, a shame since he was in the top 5 of the MVP Race and likely would have been a Mythical Five contender.
• Horrible outing for the EAC guards. Milan Vargas, Igee King, Roy Villegas, Joshua Torralba and Franz Chiong all combined for a whopping 12 points on 4 of 17 shooting and 11 turnovers.

The Other Names :

• Only Remy Morada was an effective backcourt player for EAC, scoring 15 in 23 minutes off the bench, along with three boards, four dimes and four swipes. He did miss all five of his treys though, but otherwise was 6 for 10 from inside the arc. 
• Junjun Alas was the beneficiary in minutes with Cortes out, scoring 12 in 17 minutes, including a triple. He also had three boards, a steal and a block. 

One man band - Allan Mangahas could not carry the Cardinals to a win (pic source)

SBC 76 - MIT 59
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Player of the Game : The biggest area of improvement many people felt Baser Amer had going into his rookie season was his outside shooting, well clearly he's been working on it, as he drained 3 of 4 triples in the first half that provided timely separation from the Cardinals. All in all, Amer scored 13 on 5 of 6 shooting, to go with three boards, four dimes and a steal.

The Numbers :

• Key numbers for San Beda: get 40 or more rebounds and 10 or more fastbreak points, things they did not do versus JRU. Well, check and check, as they hauled down 42 rebounds and scored 12 fastbreak points.
• For whatever reason, the bigs of San Beda were extremely foul happy, unable to contain their Mapua counterparts. Dave Marcelo and Kyle Pascual both fouled out, while David Semerad finished with four fouls. But the guards of the Red Lions had a similar problem, with Anjo Caram and Rome Dela Rosa both tallying four as well. All in all, they notched a season-high 32 fouls, and sent Mapua to the line 35 times. Luckily, the Cardinal made just 18 of them, a 51 percent clip.
• Horrible stat #2 that probably cost Mapua the game: a season-low five assists, just the second time since the season opener when they had single-digit assists.
• Horrible stat #3 that probably cost Mapua the game: a second-worst for the season 11 bench points. 
• San Beda shot 7 for 13 from outside, contributing to a 46 percent rate from the field, 27 of 58.

The Other Names :

• As the lone big man who avoided foul trouble, Jake Pascual played 31 minutes and finished with 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. He did have the worst shooting night though, scoring nine but on 4 of 15 shooting.
• Allan Mangahas tried to will his team back from the dead, scoring 12 of his 19 points in the third quarter, but it simply wasn't enough. He was also the only Cardinal with more than a single assist in the game.

NCAA Picking Record: 54-19-1