After absorbing a humbling defeat at the hands of the San Beda College Red Lions, the Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates had nothing left to do but rise up.
The Intramuros-based squad waylaid the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA Altas with a huge 89-73 win to move into the quarterfinal picture of the 2017 FilOil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup, Monday evening at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Lyceum moved to 5-2, third in Group A, while Perpetual slid to 2-4.
CJ Perez finished with 15 points and six rebounds to pace the red-shirts, but it was MJ Ayaay and Jeffrey Santos who made the big baskets, scoring 12 points each and combining for six triples.
“The challenge going into this game is how we’ll bounce back after that loss to San Beda,” Robinson shared.
“They’re going to beat us, but we have to keep on playing. So, that was my challenge to them. It’s not about the past, but what is ahead of us,” the young mentor added.
Ayaay and company buckled down on defense in the second quarter, limiting Perpetual to just eight points in the period. The Las Piñas-based squad also shot a dismal 28 percent at the half as opposed to 37 percent for the Pirates.
Lyceum’s reached 17 points of a Ralph Tangsinco trey with 7:35 left in the third period, before a 7-0 run kept the Altas in the game ending with a Robert Clemente basket.
The advantage ballooned to 21 at the payoff quarter with a Perez trey, and that turned out to be the nail in the coffin as the Pirates never looked back on the Altas.
Lyceum torched the opponents with 45 percent shooting outing at the end of the game, while limiting the latter to 39 percent. Perpetual also committed 19 turnovers, making it hard for a comeback to occur.
“We will make the most with the opportunities we are given. Gain more experience and, hopefully, win a championship here sa Filoil,” Robinson added.
The Pirates will try to reach the quarterfinals stage as they take on the University of Santo Tomas (1-4) on Independence Day at 1:30 pm.
Prince Eze, in his second game back, registered a double-double at 18 points and 17 rebounds.
The Altas will face the undefeated San Beda College (3-0) on Friday, June 2 at 5pm.
The Scores:
LPU (89) – Perez 15, Ayaay 12, Ayaay 12, Santos 12, Tangsingco 6, Marcelino JV 8, Caduyac 7, Nzeusseu 6, Marcelino JC 6, Pretta 6, Liwag 6, Baltazar 2, Ibanez 0, Cinco 0, Marata 0, Pallares 0, Serrano 0, Valencia 0.
UPHSD (73) – Eze 15, Clemente 15, Pido 10, Yuhico 7, Sadiwa 6, Singotiko 6, Coronel 5, Casas 4, Lucente 2, Mangalino 0 , Dagangon 0, Tamayo 0, Velasquez 0.
Quarterscores: 19-17, 40-25, 64-47, 89-73.
