Lyceum of the Philippines University spoiled Nat Cosejo’s scoring outburst for Emilio Aguinaldo College, taking a 79-73 victory, in the NCAA Season 98 Seniors Basketball Tournament on Wednesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Up by 12, 50-38 to open the second half, Mclaude Guadana sparked a 9-2 run of his own to open the third period, boosting the Pirates’ lead into their biggest of the game, 59-40.
The Generals however refused to give up as they cut the deficit to as close to six, 71-77 after a JP Maguliano basket with 29.5-ticks left.
Unfortunately, no more time left as Lyceum secured the victory.
“Yung aggressiveness nila, ayun yung ineexpect ko. Pero yung lalayo kami sa EAC, I did not expect that. Pero the way they play, how they play the game, ayun ineexpect ko sa kanila, how to bounce back,” said LPU head coach Gilbert Malabanan.
The Pirates were firing right from the get-go, leading by nine, 29-20 to end the opening frame.
They were able to hold on to the lead going into the second half with 12, 50-38.
Guadana led Lyceum with 19 points on 8-for-16 shooting, together with a rebound and an assist. Enoch Valdez and Vince Cunanan contributed 10 apiece, while Shawn Umali a well-rounded seven markers, six boards, two assists and three blocks.
For the Generals, Nat Cosejo’s 26-points on an efficient 63.2-percent shooting went for naught. He also added six rebounds and four assists. Maguliano had a monster double-double of 12 markers and 15 boards.
The Pirates improved to 8-3, while the Generals (1-10) could not make it two in a row, now the first team with 10 losses.
Next up for LPU is Arellano University (4-5) on Wednesday at 3 PM, while EAC will look to get their second win against Mapua University (2-9) on Saturday at 3 PM.
The Scores:
LPU 79 — Guadana 19, Valdez 10, Cunanan 10, Umali 7, Vinoya 7, Villegas 6, Bravo 6, Larupay 5, Navarro 4, Penafiel 3, Montano 2.
EAC 73 — Cosejo 26, Balowa 12, Maguliano 12, Cosa 7, Bajon 5, Luciano 4, Liwag 4, Tolentino 3, Ad. Doria 0, Dominguez 0, Angeles 0, Quinal 0.
Quarterscores: 29-20, 50-38, 65-53, 79-73.
