MANILA, Philippines – The Lyceum Pirates kicked off the second round of the NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball tournament with a stunning 91-68 drubbing of the Letran Knights at the FilOil EcoOil Centre on Friday, October 11.
Playing minus their injured star Mac Guadaña for the third straight contest, Renz Villegas stepped up big for the Pirates and exploded for a game-high 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including a near-perfect 3-of-4 clip from deep.
John Barba, the league’s top scorer, stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists, while Gyle Montano and JM Bravo added 16 and 10 markers, respectively, as the Pirates bounced back in style from their 78-66 first-round setback to the Knights last Saturday, October 5.
Deo Cuajao paced Letran in the loss with 16 points, while Jimboy Estrada and Paolo Javillonar scored 11 and 10, respectively.
The Knights were still within striking distance at the end of the third period, trailing by just 9 points, 61-70.
However, Lyceum went on a massive 21-7 tear in the fourth frame to secure its fifth win in 10 games, while shoving Letran down to a 6-4 slate.
Overall, Lyceum forced Letran to commit 19 errors, leading to 26 points off turnovers – compared to the Knights’ only 5.
The Pirates also dominated the Knights in bench points, 49-23, as well as in second chance points, 28-6.
Meanwhile, the EAC Generals completed a huge 78-70 come-from-behind win over the Perpetual Altas in the second matchup of the day.
With Perpetual enjoying a 46-32 edge at halftime, EAC came alive in the third quarter and outscored the Altas, 21-12, to cut the deficit to just two possessions at the start of the final period.
Still trailing 58-66 with under eight minutes left, the Generals suddenly caught fire from beyond the arc and uncorked three consecutive long bombs to finally overtake the Altas, 67-66, with 6:14 to go in the game.
It was a tight battle between both teams in the following minutes, and with Perpetual only down by 2 points, 70-72, EAC’s main man King Gurtiza sank another cold-blooded triple at the 2:04 mark, which proved to be the dagger as the Altas failed to score the rest of the way.
Gurtiza finished with a game-high 21 points for the Generals, 9 coming in the fourth quarter built on three crucial treys.
On the other side, Shawn Orgo topscored for the Altas – who led by as many as 24 points in their sorry loss – with 16 markers.
EAC tied Lyceum with a 5-5 card, while Perpetual dropped to 4-6.
The Scores
First Game
Lyceum 91 – Villegas 23, Barba 19, Montano 16, Bravo 10, Versoza 7, Aviles 5, Cunanan 4, Penafiel 4, Daileg 3, Moralejo 0, Paulo 0, Gordon 0, Panelo 0, Pallingayan 0.
Letran 68 – Cuajao 16, Estrada 11, Javillonar 10, Miller 9, Monje 9, Santos 8, Nunag 2, Delfino 2, Montecillo 1, Baliling 0, Pradella 0.
Quarters: 21-21, 49-43, 70-61, 91-68.
Second Game
EAC 78 – Gurtiza 21, Oftana 12, Loristo 10, Quinal 9, Pagsanjan 7, Ochavo 6, Umpad 4, Lucero 3, Bagay 3, Angeles 2, Manacho 1, Devera 0, Jacob 0, Bacud 0, Luciano 0.
Perpetual 70 – Orgo 16, Abis 14, Pagaran 10, Cruz 8, Montemayor 7, Nunez 5, Gelsano 5, Boral 3, Manuel 2, Cauguiran 0.
Quarters: 16-21, 32-46, 53-58, 78-70.
– Rappler.com
