EAC-MIT brawl: NCAA big loser

MANILA, Philippines - It was a bizarre, senseless, mindless end to a non-bearing game and the league absorbed a black-eye in the end.

Emilio Aguinaldo College clinched an 86-77 victory over Mapua with still 28.5 seconds remaining in the contest as NCAA officials were forced to stop the match with only a player each left from each side following a bench-clearing incident.

All hell broke loose after Mapua’s Leo Gabo attacked EAC’s John Tayongtong for shoving teammate CJ Isit, triggering a free-for-all at center court that even the wide-bodied security personnel had failed to break or stop.

Tayongtong sent Isit down to the floor with a crushing right cross before the Cardinals ganged up on him and pinned him down in return. A number of punches were thrown at the height of the melee.

Only Mapua’s Jessie Saitanan and EAC’s Joshua General didn’t leave their bench during the brawl, forcing league officials to stop the match and declared EAC the winner since all those involved were automatically rejected.

All players and coaches involved in the scuffle will be slapped a minimum one-game suspension, according to league commissioner Bai Cristobal.

Earlier, Harold Arboleda recovered in time and canned in two pressure-packed charities, lifting Perpetual Help to a pulsating 76-75 victory over San Beda as the Altas remained in the Final Four hunt.

Fouled by Arthur dela Cruz from the long range with two-tenths of a second to go, Arboleda missed his first free throw but bucked tremendous pressure and drilled in the last two, shoving the Altas back to the lead after blowing as many as 14 points.

The Lions tried an alley-oop play from Baser Amer to Nigerian Ola Adeogun but Arboleda tapped the ball out as time expired as the Altas foiled the Lions’ bid for an outright semis seat while sealing their ninth win against six losses.

Perpetual remained at fifth but trailed joint third running St. Benilde and Jose Rizal U (9-5) by just half-a-game with three games left in the Altas’ double-round elims schedule.

San Beda, however, placed the game under protest, contesting that Joel Jolangcob’s three-pointer at the end of the third quarter should not have been counted since the Altas’ 24-second shot clock had allegedly expired.

“This is under protest,” said San Beda team manager Jude Roque.

Still, the Altas celebrated the rare win over the Lions as if they’ve won the championship.

“Everybody cried after the game because we really didn’t expect to beat a powerhouse team like San Beda,” said Perpetual Help coach Aric del Rosario.

The last time Perpetual beat San Beda was 12 years ago when it hacked out an 88-87 win in overtime.

Juneric Baloria shot 22 points, rookie Gabriel Dagangon fired a career high 18 markers and Justine Alano scattered 12 points. But it was Arboleda who saved the Las Piñas-based squad in the end.