The Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates leaned on their hot shooting from the outside to take their third consecutive victory in Group A of the 2017 FilOil Flying V Pre-season Premier Cup, dismantling the University of the East Red Warriors, 96-80, Friday at the FilOil Flying V Centre, San Juan.
CJ Perez carried the undefeated Pirates one again with 14 points, eight rebounds, and three steals.
“Earlier CJ was missing shots, nag-a-apologize siya and I told him he doesn’t need to apologize,” remarked Lyceum head coach Topex Robinson.
The Intramuros-based squad broke out of a tight opening quarter with a 16-2 run. Wilson Baltazar then fired four triples, including three straight in the second period, to put the game away even just at the first half.
Robinson shared that going small is the default choice. “We don’t have any big men. So we need to work with what we have,” he said.
Lyceum ended the game shooting 42 percent from beyond-the-arc. Ralph Tansingco and Baltazar both finished 4-of-6 from the area.
With the third straight win, Robinson remarked, “Hopefully, we’ll just continue the habit of winning, and honor the game,” Robinson stressed.
The Pirates (3-0) will stake their unbeaten record against the defending champions De La Salle University (1-1) on May 19, Friday, at 5pm.
Mark Olayon paced UE with 17 points and 6 rebounds.
The Red Warriors will face the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA on May 24, Wednesday, at 11:15am.
The Scores:
LPU (96) – Perez 14, Tansingco 14, Marcelino Jv 12, Baltazar 12, Marcelino Jc 11, Ayaay 10, Pretta 8, Nzeusseu 5, Ibañez 2, Caduyac 2, Marata 2, Cinco 2, Liwag 2, Santos 0, Pallares 0, Serrano 0, Valencia 0.
UE (80) – Olayon 17, Pasaol 12, Derige 12, Varilla 8, Abanto 8, Manalang 6, Maloles 5, Conner 4, Bartolome 4, Gagate 2, Magbuhos 2, Armenion 0, Cullar 0, Green G 0, Green J 0.
Quarterscores: 22-8, 52-36, 79-52, 96-80.
