The Lyceum Pirates notched their first win in 28 days, finally ending a losing skid after beating the EAC Generals on Thursday, 69-55.
Head coach Topex Robinson knew the Generals would rely on their outside shooting coming into the game, and he did not let their opponents get enough production from beyond the arc.
LPU Head Coach Topex Robinson
“We know Morada and Munsayac came off great games so we had to contain them and force them to shoot outside shots as long as we challenged them. We defended their perimeter guys pretty well,” Robinson talked about EAC’s backcourt players who played stellar basketball during their wins.
The Generals this time were limited to only a measly 5-for-27 from three-point area or a mere 19 percent clip, while bigs Joseph Gabayni and Jean Nguidjol took care of the interior.
Robinson added it was a matter of letting the Generals beat them from the outside and protecting the inside since they were capable with their bigs.
“We respected their bigs but we’d rather challenge their outside shots and try to (force them to) go low-percentage,” he said.
“We wanted to dominate the paint. We did not set up (the bigs) but most of their points were from hustle and we won the 50-50 battle. That is big for us.”
Laminou Hamadou was again limited to only 8 points and 12 rebounds.
Robinson said breaking the losing skid is part of the process as he tries to incorporate his system for the Pirates, and he hopes the team continues learning from the good start.
“We try to enjoy the process and not the results. It is a good start for us. We just keep on playing. EAC is playing inspired basketball so we had to match their energy,” Robinson said.
“Hopefully we learn a lot from the losses and the experience. Looking ahead, it is a learning experience for us.”
