Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Lyceum had to fight until the final minute to keep its immaculate slate in the NCAA Season 93 men’s basketball tournament as it turned back San Sebastian, 78-73, Friday at Filoil Flying V Centre.
Jasper Ayaay delivered the dagger triple with 26 seconds left to give the Pirates a 77-70 lead which as enough cushion for Lyceum to rely on until the final buzzer.
The Pirates improved to 3-0 while the Golden Stags slipped to 1-2.
“I guess it’s the perseverance and grit, just not giving up, that was a tough game and they really gave us a run for our money,” said Pirates head coach Topex Robinson.
“Again winning is the result of our vision, we want to make sure we inspire others and it’s a reminder to ourselves that we inspire others and give them hope. We want to inspire players from the province that they can play and it can be done.”
Things were still tight between the two teams just heading into the final minute as Mike Nzeusseu tipped in Reymar Caduyac’s miss with 1:06 left in the game to give Lyceum a 74-70 lead.
The Pirates stretched it to seven but Michael Calisaan was able to salvage a triple for San Sebastian to cut the deficit to four, 77-73, with 17.9 seconds left, which proved too short for the Golden Stags to force a comeback.
CJ Perez led the Pirates with 20 points and five rebounds while Ayaay added 17 points.
Nzeusseu did much of the dirty work for the pirates with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Calisaan had a game-high 28 points to go along 10 rebounds to lead San Sebastian while Allyn Bulanadi added 16 points and grabbed nine boards.