MANILA, Philippines — Lyceum may have fallen short of a Final Four appearance but it won’t take away the fact how good the Pirates’ campaign this NCAA Season 89 was.
The hard-fighting Pirates turned things around in the second round after a shaky opening round. And though their second round surge still didn’t get them over the hump, coach Bonnie Tan feels satisfied of what his players are able to accomplish.
“This is what we really wanted to do. We wanted to break our team record for most number of wins,” said Tan, after his team logged its eighth win, one win more than its previous best, at College of St. Benilde’s expense Monday afternoon.
“It’s an achievement for the players now and a challenge for our future players.”
Lyceum was also able to win four straight games, its longest winning streak since joining the NCAA in 2011.
“Overall, we’re definitely happy with what we’re able to do,” Tan told INQUIRER.net. “We were able to recover from an up-and-down first round and win five games in the second round.”
And as Tan assessed his team’s performance, he also recalled what could have been had his team been a little more consistent and had his players kept their emotions in check.
“We had a lot of lessons learned during the season. A lot happened especially the suspensions, Zamora was suspended for three games and so was Francisco then we also had players suspended for a game and it had a huge effect on us. We weren’t able to consistently field a complete team in the first round,” lamented Tan, whose squad also managed to beat the top four teams in the league.
Apart from it, Tan admitted that Lyceum’s 75-76 loss to Arellano, where the Pirates squandered a five-point lead with a minute left, left a stinging mark.
“Had we won that game, we still would’ve had a chance for the Final Four.”