Lyceum of the Philippines University narrowly defeated the also-ran San Sebastian College-Recoletos, 83-80, securing a final four berth in the NCAA Season 99 Seniors Basketball Tournament on Friday at the Filoil Ecooil Centre, San Juan.
The Pirates struggled in the first half, appearing sluggish out of the gate and falling behind by eight points at halftime.
The Stags out-hustled them on the boards and capitalized on their mistakes.
“Actually, ginising ko lang sila nung halftime. As you can see, yung first half namin masyadong relax yung mga players namin, we were getting outrebounded by the opponent,” explained third-year Pirates head coach Gilbert Malabanan.
“Mas aggressive sila sa amin eh. That’s why they led eight points in the first half. Sabi ko sa kanila huwag natin pagsisihan ito sa huli.”
Malabanan went on, “Kung lalaruin natin ito, lalaruin natin ng maayos kasi ayaw ko rin magsisi sa huli na hindi natin binigay yung best natin.”
Lyceum shot well in the first half but had significantly fewer attempts due to Baste’s possession advantage. The Intramuros-based squad only attempted 29 field goals compared to Baste’s 46.
Moreover, the Stags outrebounded them, 21-29, and won the turnover battle, 10-3.
The Pirates turned their fortunes around in the second half, coming out guns blazing.
They scored 30 points in the third quarter to take the lead, 64-63, after a triple from Jearlan Omandac.
Lyceum extended the lead to as much as seven, 83-76, after a jumper from Shawn Umali with 2:33 left. Then they got to work keeping Baste from making a comeback.
Up three with four seconds remaining, Romel Calahat’s corner triple to force overtime sailed over the rim as the Pirates secured the 83-80 victory.
“I give credit to my players. They’re the ones playing and they’re giving their best, giving their effort and aggressiveness, but siyempre hindi pa rin kami puwede magpakampante. Mayroon pa kaming two games left, and I think we really need to do a good job pa rin, work pa rin kami for those two games,” said Malabanan.
Patrick Montano was Lyceum’s most consistent scorer throughout all four quarters. He dropped 22 points on 80% shooting, including 4/6 from behind the three-point line.
Though he only took one shot the entire game, Vince Cunanan was tremendous all across the board. He grabbed six rebounds, while also dishing out nine assists, taking four steals, blocking two shots, and adding two points.
Enoch Valdez stuffed the stat sheet with his 18 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and three blocks. Shawn Umali followed closely with 13 points and five rebounds, while Mclaude Guadana added 10 points.
The Pirates climbed to a 12-4 record, holding a two-game advantage over College of Saint Benilde and Josr Rizal University for the second spot. They will face Arellano University on Sunday, 12:00 PM.
Alex Desoyo caused trouble for Lyceum from the start, scoring 22 points and dishing out four assists as the Stags fell short of the win.
Paeng Are was the only other Stag in double-digits with 11 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
The Stags look ahead to their matchup against the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA on Tuesday, 1:30 PM.
The Scores:
LPU 83- Montano 22, Valdez 18, Umali 13, Guadana 10, Barba 9, Omandac 5, Cunanan 2, Villegas 2, Penafiel 2, Bravo 0
SSC-R 80- Desyo 22, Are 11, Felebrico 9, Calahat 9, Sumoda 7, Escobido 7, Velasco 4, Una 3, Ra. Gabat 3, Aguilar 3, Re. Gabat 2, De Leon 0, Castor 0, Singson 0
Quarterscores: 17-19, 34-42, 64-63, 83-80
