The good times keep on rolling for Lyceum of the Philippines University after the Pirates picked up their sixth straight win with a 67-62 victory over San Beda University in Season 99 National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan yesterday.
Mclaude Guadaña led the Pirates with 15 points to send the squad on top of the standings.
With a precious 64-62 lead in the fourth quarter, Enoch Valdez completed a fastbreak attempt with a dunk to extend the advantage to four with 21.1 seconds left in the game.
Shawn Umali scored the last point of the match with a free throw with 3.2 seconds left to ice the game.
The Pirates bench outscored San Beda’s, 44-20, and outpaced the Red Lions with 14 fastbreak points.
Lyceum head coach Gilbert Malabanan lauded his wards’ eagerness whenever they are called up to play.
“I always told them to grab the opportunity whenever they get selected to play. The reason why our bench points are so high is because they would always show they deserve the playing time they get,” Malabanan said.
Jacob Cortez led the Red Lions, who dropped to with 23 points. fell to 3-2.
The second game saw Arellano University finally break its four-game losing streak after an 87-80 at the expense of defending champion Letran College.
Felix Villarente led the Chiefs with 16 points as they finally got a win under new head coach Chico Manabat.
For Manabat, who was appointed last March, he only told his players to continue to play and fight despite their slow start.
“I told them we had nothing to lose as long as we show our fighting spirit, we will continue to move forward,” said Manabat, whose wards only committed seven turnovers, their lowest so far this season.
“My assistant coaches guided me on our matchups today,” he added.
Kobe Monje had a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds but the Knights experienced their worst start at 0-5 since its 1-4 beginning in Season 90 under former head coach Caloy Garcia.
Mapua University started the Sunday triple header with a 73-69 victory over Emilio Aguinaldo College.
Jopet Soriano led the Cardinals with 15 points while Paolo Hernandez added 11 points for Mapua as it now holds a 4-1 card.
