Lyceum refuses to be content with Final Four spot

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

Making it to the playoffs is one thing. Winning the championship is another.

And CJ Perez knows that Lyceum’s 13-0 record doesn’t guarantee anything, especially the NCAA Season 93 title.

“It doesn’t work that way. We may be 13-0, but that’s not a guarantee that we’ll be the champion,” he said after the Pirates escaped Perpetual, 94-83 on Thursday.

The victory kept Lyceum unscathed and helped it achieve its first ever Final Four appearance with five games still left in its eliminations schedule.

Perez remains the fulcrum to the Pirates’ success, but the energetic forward would rather share the spotlight to his teammates, especially to the Marcelino twins Jaycee and Jayvee.

“Playing with these guys, my job just gets easier because the focus isn’t on me every time. They are really big on offense and defense and I don’t get tired because of them,” he said.

For their part, the Marcelino brothers said that they are just doing what coach Topex Robinson has been asking from them, which is to provide the energy for the squad whenever they’re on the floor.

“We’re happy that we’ll experience the Final Four in our rookie year, but we won’t stop working until we get our goal, which is the championship,” said Jaycee.

Jayvee agreed, saying, “We’ll always work hard whenever we’re on the floor so that we’ll be an energetic team. We’ll continue working hard.”

And that’s exactly what Perez wants from the Pirates: to continue striving for greatness.

“We’re already there, but we still have to continue doubling the effort in our practice and in our games,” he said.

Lyceum will next brace for Emilio Aguinaldo College on Tuesday. /je