Omar Larupay came alive in the clutch for Lyceum of the Philippines University as they swept the season elimination series versus San Beda University, 81-80, in the NCAA Season 98 Seniors Basketball Tournament on Wednesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
It was a closely-contested game all throughout, going down the wire.
With 5.7 seconds left, Omar Larupay nailed a clutch basket coming off a pass from Renzo Navarro.
After a timeout, Gab Cometa shot a runner for the win but missed.
“Actually we’re very lucky. Kasi they have a chance to win that game because nagkaron sila ng dalawang tira. Isang putback and isang jumpshot. And the good thing is nag-miss lang that’s why we won,” said Pirates head coach Gilbert Malabanan.
Up by 78-73 with 2:24 left to play, the Red Lions were on the verge of having a deja vu after being scoreless in the succeeding two minutes of the crunch time.
Tony Ynot however, scored a game-leading basket after Larupay’s split free throws to get the 80-79 advantage with 15-ticks remaining.
The last time these two lock heads were almost two months ago when San Beda went scoreless in the final four minutes of the game. The Pirates then took advantage of it, scoring an 11-0 outburst to end the game.
Larupay finished with 15 points on 60-percent shooting from the field together with seven rebounds, while Navarro contributed 10 markers, four boards, and seven dimes.
For San Beda, five players finished in double figures led by Bahio with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. Cometa and Ynot had 14 and 13 respectively.
The Pirates (10-5) overtook the Red Lions (9-5) in the three spot.
Next up for LPU is San Sebastian College-Recoletos on Sunday at 3:00 PM. San Beda, on the other hand, will try to bounce back from this tough loss against Mapua University on Saturday at the same time.
The Scores:
Lyceum 81 — Larupay 15, Navarro 10, Bravo 10, Guadana 9, Umali 9, Valdez 8, Barba 6, Montano 6, Villegas 4, Penafiel 4, Cunanan 0.
San Beda 80 — Bahio 15, Cometa 14, Ynot 13, Andrada 11, Kwekuteye 10, Cuntapay 8, Penuela 5, Sanchez 4, Alfaro 0, Visser 0, Cortez 0, Payosing 0, Llarena 0.
Quarterscores: 13-20, 41-45, 57-62, 81-80.
