Japeth Aguilar came away from his first scrimmage with Powerade Team Pilipinas Thursday night – maybe not with flying colors – but with a high enough passing grade which head coach Yeng Guiao believes can only get better in the coming days.
Aguilar finished with eight points, six rebounds, four blocks shots and a steal in 24 minutes, getting his first taste of action with the Nationals in a come-from-behind 100-94 victory over the evangelical but rough-playing Soldiers for Christ at The Arena in San Juan.
The 6-foot-9 son of former Northern Consolidated center Peter Aguilar was especially impressive in the first quarter when he swatted away three shots, providing a glimpse of a future anchored on his long-limbed defensive capabilities.
“He has a lot of things to improve on but the potential is there,” said Guiao, who started Aguilar along with Willie Miller, Arwind Santos, Kerby Raymundo and James Yap.
“Japeth also needs to get used to the local brand of basketball again. Medyo naliligaw pa eh. But I’m pretty satisfied with what I saw.”
Led by Marcus Morgan, who finished with 21 points, and Wayne Oliver, who drained five 3-point shots, Soldiers for Christ led through most of the first half and the early part of the third before Arwind Santos struck for 13 of his 22 points to help tie the game, 69-all, going to the final 10 minutes.
The Nationals’ reinforcements – Burger King’s Wynne Arboleda (3 steals), Mark Yee (3 triples) and Beau Belga (5 rebounds, 2 blocks) – then made their presence felt in the fourth quarter, delivering in the clutch when the game swung perilously in either team’s favor.
Santos missed 5 of 6 triples but was 7 of 10 from within with 13 rebounds while Yap added 18 and Raymundo 13 points.
Vastly different from the plodding Australian team that played two goodwill games against the Nationals last April, the visiting Soldiers for Christ selection, whose core is made up of former collegiate players from the United States, was comparatively more fundamentally sound.
The American missionaries, led by former Purefoods player Rob Johnson and one-time Red Bull import in the Philippine Basketball League Troy Coleman, also matched the RP team fastbreak game and were, for most part of the first half, deadlier from the outside as they led by as many as 13 points on the way to a 49-39 advantage after two 10-minute quarters.
Both teams were on equal footing from 3-point range but the Nationals, with four key players on the bench in street clothes, shot just 10 of 22 from inside the and were outrebounded, 29-21.
With their mother ballclubs locked in a best-of-seven series in the Motolite Fiesta Conference Finals, Mick Pennisi (San Miguel Beer) and Jayjay Helterbrand and Cyrus Baguio (Barangay Ginebra) sat out the game along with Rain or Shine’s Gabe Norwood who was ailing.
On hand to watch the exhibition game, three weeks before Powerade-RP leaves for the Jones Cup tournament in Taipei, were PBA commissioner Renauld ‘Sonny’ Barrios, PBA vice chairman Lito Alvarez, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas vice chairman Ricky Vargas, SBP secretary-general Patrick Gregorio, and Ateneo athletic director Ricky Palou.
The scores:
POWERADE-RP 100 – Santos 22, Yap 18, Raymundo 13, Arboleda 9, Yee 9, De Ocampo 9, Miller 8, Aguilar 8, Belga 4.
SOLDIERS FOR CHRIST 94 – Morgan 21, Oliver 20, Alexander 17, Mcfadden 13, Amenra 11, Crawford 5, Green 4, Dooley 3, Johnson 0.
Quarterscores: 13-22; 39-49; 69-69; 100-94
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