Jebb Bulawan of LPU try to steal the ball from John Tayongtong of EAC. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
MANILA, Philippines-It all came down to the last minute.
With both teams trading jabs, the Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates landed the power punch knocking down the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, 73-67, at the National Collegiate Athletics Association at the Arena in San Juan Friday evening.
Pirates guard Dexter Zamora hit a floater in the right side of the lane with 27 seconds remaining to put the boards at 69-67.
LPU head coach Bonnie Tan said winning the back-and-forth battle against EAC boiled down to defense.
“It was all defense, it all comes down to it,” Tan said. “You can’t win on offense alone.”
EAC had a six-point lead over LPU, 57-51, to start the fourth until the Pirates started to take a swing at the Generals tying the game at 65-all.
LPU built a seven-point lead, 47-40, with less than four minutes remaining in the third courtesy of a 10-0 run with Guy Mbbida converting on a three-point play to cap the rally.
EAC then had a rally of their own, scoring 13-0 unanswered to put the boards 53-47 with Ariel Aguilar scoring six points in the blitz.
With the victory, the Pirates strike a 4-2 record good for fourth place in the standings drops to eighth with a 1-4 record.
Wilson Baltazar paced LPU with 20 points and eight boards while Joseph Gabyni had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds with three blocks to boot.
Happi had a double-double of his own of 16 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Generals.
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