NCAA: Mapua avoids meltdown, survives Lyceum fightback

Joe Lacastesantos Vs Justin Serrano        Photo by Tristan Rafael Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

It was almost a meltdown of monumental proportions.

Leading by as much as 43 points in the first half, Mapua avoided the embarrassment of suffering a historic meltdown and survived a feisty Lyceum squad to score a 109-95 victory in the NCAA Season 91 men’s basketball tournament Friday at San Juan Arena.

“This is the game that I’m not happy about because we’re looking stupid in the third and fourth quarters,” said coach Atoy Co.

Allwell Oraeme paced the Cardinals with 26 points, six of which in the final 1:36 of the game to help Mapua take the game for good. He also had 20 rebounds and five blocks.

“That was the scariest win I’ve ever played in. We were turning the ball over and we had bad defense,” said Mapua forward Josan Nimes, who added 24 markers, six boards, and six assists.

Mapua got all the things it wanted in the first half, leading by as much as 43 points, 64-21, courtesy of a JR Raflores basket with 1:21 remaining in the second quarter.

But an uncharacteristic halftime outburst from coach Topex Robinson in the dugout woke the Pirates up, unleashing a relentless assault in the succeeding periods with a 35-point third quarter and continued pressure in the fourth.

That frustrated Mapua, which saw Andretti Stevens being thrown out in the fourth, followed by coach Atoy Co whistled at for two technicals with 1:45 remaining in the game, as Lyceum continued to close in. The Lyceum fightback was capped off by Mer Ayaay cutting the deficit down to six, 101-95, with 1:36 left.

Unfortunately, that was it for the Pirates as they went scoreless from that point forward and Oraeme took over late in the game.

Mapua improved to an even 3-3 slate, while Lyceum fell to 1-5.

“Coach Atoy told us this was a must win game. Being in a 2-4 hole is hard to climb out from,” said Nimes.

Shaq Alanes led the Pirates with 27 points, while Ayaay had 22 markers and eight rebounds in the losing effort.

The scores:

MAPUA 109—Oraeme 26, Nimes 24, Biteng 12, Isit 9, Raflores 9, Nieles 7, Serrano 6, Aguirre 6, Que 5, Menina 5, Stevens 0, Layug 0

LYCEUM 95—Alanes 27, Ayaay 22, Baltazar 14, Nguidjol 8, Lacastesantos 6, Mbida 6, Sunga 3, Soliman 3, Bulawan 3, Gabayni 2, Lugo 1, Malabanan 0, Marata 0, Taladua 0, Elmejrab 0

Quarters: 34-12, 68-28, 86-63, 109-95