Jaycee Marcelino did not allow the Lyceum Pirates to suffer another upset at the hands of the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, getting an 83-71 payback win in the NCAA Season 95 Seniors Basketball Tournament, Friday at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
Marcelino took over in the final frame, scoring 13 of his 23 points in the last seven minutes of the game.
“We have to respect the EAC team, especially coach Oliver [Bunyi]. He turned that shop around. [They’re] Just sustaining the energy when they’re working,” said Lyceum head coach Topex Robinson.
Up by just three seven minutes left, Jaycee Marcelino took charge. He scored six straight points to regain a 71-62 cushion.
Twin brother Jayvee Marcelino and Reymar Caduyac joined in the act, as Lyceum took a 12-point edge to close out the game.
Caduyac had 10 points, while Jayvee added seven points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
“We don’t want the ghosts of the past to happen again and we don’t want to make the same mistakes again. We just had a good fourth quarter,” said Robinson, recalling 82-84 loss to EAC in the first round.
Mike Nzeusseu was once again the rock for the Pirates, finishing with 14 points and 16 boards.
Lyceum went up to 12-3, keeping a 2.5 games edge over third-running Letran.
EAC, who dropped to 3-12, were led by Marwin Taywan with 16 points. Runningmate Jethro Mendoza added 14 markers.
The Scores:
LPU 83 – Marcelino JC 23, Nzeusseu 14, Caduyac 10, Santos 9, Tansingco 8, Marcelino JV 7, David 4, Navarro 3, Pretta 3, Ibanez 2, Valdez 0, Yong 0, Remulla 0
EAC 71 – Taywan 16, Mendoza 14, Gurtiza 9, Gonzales 7, Maguliano 6, De Guzman 6, Luciano 4, Cadua 3, Estacio 2, Dayrit 2, Martin 2, Corilla 0
Quarterscores: 14-18, 42-31, 60-57, 83-71
