MANILA, Philippines — Titing Manalili returned to action for Colegio de San Juan de Letran but Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) booked a quarterfinals berth with a 78-71 victory in the NCAA Season 102 men’s basketball tournament on Thursday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
With the win, the Generals are now tied for second place with Arellano University at 6-6 while Letran dropped to 8-4 but retained its post on top of Group B.
EAC and Arellano University with clash on Monday with the winning team claiming the twice-to-beat incentive against the losing team in the quarterfinal round.
The Knights, on the other hand, will clash with the Altas of Perpetual Help on Tuesday. Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s game, Perpetual Help (3-8) will end up fourth in Group B and winless San Sebastian (0-12) will take the bottom position.
The Stags, however, will still have a chance to advance if they beat the Altas twice in the play-in incentive as per the new rules for Season 102.
If San Sebastian pulls of a miracle by defeating Perpetual Help two games in a row, it will book the last quarterfinal berth for Group B.
On Thursday, Manalili returned after being sidelined for a month and missing six games with a right-knee injury. He scored eight points and issued only two assists.
In Letran’s first-round clash with EAC, Manalili finished with a season-high 14 assists.
