During the Lyceum Pirates’ 14-game tear in the 93rd season of the NCAA, CJ Perez has been at the forefront of almost every win, filling up the stat sheet with his all-around play.
But also sharing the limelight with Perez in all of those wins have been the scrappy Marcelino twins.
And no one appreciates the presence of the twins more than Perez himself.
“Playing with these two guys, napapagaan ang ginagawa ko kasi tatambay lang ako sa kabila, mag-aabang lang ako.
“So malaking tulong sila sa akin kasi ‘di ako napapagod minsan kasi sila talaga ang dumedepensa,” expressed Perez, who is averaging 17.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.4 steals in just 28.5 minutes of game time.
The relief Perez feels when the Marcelino twins are around was seen during Lyceum’s 86-74 win against the EAC Generals, Tuesday afternoon.
With the Generals slicing their once 20-point lead down to six with 4:41 remaining, the Pirates needed a spark to ignite their lethargic offense.
Gladly stepping up were the Marcelino twins as their feisty approach to the game frustrated the Generals, helping limit them to just two points in the final four minutes of the game. Moreover, on the offensive end, the twins scored 10 of Lyceum’s 12 fourth quarter points with Jaycee scoring six of his 11 markers during that span.
The two though are just giving it their all in every game, wanting to give Lyceum its first-ever Final Four appearance.
“Siyempre masaya ako na rookie year palang namin ma-eexperience ko na namin ang Final Four,” shared Jaycee, who is averaging 11.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.4 steals this conference.
“Hindi parin kami titigil sa pagtratrabaho kasi ang goal namin makuha namin ang championship para ma-inspire namin lahat ng humahanga sa amin, pati mga pamilya namin.”
“Siyempre masaya din kasi ayun nga, nakapag-final four. Lagi namin pupursigihin na magtrabaho pa sa loob ng court at maging energetic sa team namin,” added Jayvee, who is posting norms of 7.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 0.7 steals.
“Mas pagbubutihan pa namin ‘to.”