Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
Lyceum banked on the Marcelino twins late to down pesky Emilio Aguinaldo College, 86-74, and stay unbeaten in the NCAA Season 93 men’s basketball tournament Tuesday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Brothers Jaycee and Jayvee Marcelino were instrumental in the endgame, scoring the Pirates’ last 10 points in the final five minutes to preserve their unblemished 14-0 record.
With the Pirates four games away from completing the eliminations sweep, coach Topex Robinson finally acknowledged the possibility of taking a thrice-to-beat advantage in the Finals, saying his team would be foolish not to grab the opportunity.
“It’s there. It’s in front of us. But again, the mindset that we really put in is all of the games that we’re gonna play is gonna be crucial. Even though you think about sweeping the eliminations, it’s not a guarantee that you’re going to win a championship. There’s still a lot of flaws that we have to work on, and we have to keep on improving,” he said.
MJ Ayaay topscored for the Pirates with 15 points and nine rebounds, while CJ Perez once again did it all with 13 markers, seven boards, and six assists in the triumph.
Jaycee Marcelino fired six of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, to go with four dimes, while Jayvee Marcelino had nine markers, seven assists, five steals, and three rebounds.
Lyceum lost hold of a 20-point lead, 53-33, in the first half and allowed the EAC to cut the deficit to just six, 78-72 ,with 4:42 remaining after a Rustan Bugarin undergoal stab.
But the Marcelinos weaved their magic to help Lyceum break away in the clutch as they strung eight straight points to establish the 86-72 lead in the last 46.6 seconds.
“There was this one stretch that I just let them play. I want them to find a way to really get back. You have to trust them that if they made a mistake, they have to figure them out on their own how to fix it. Hopefully, there will come a time that I don’t need to coach them anymore and it’s helping them grow,” said Robinson.
The Generals succumbed to their second straight defeat to fall to 6-8.
Jerome Garcia paced EAC with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Sidney Onwubere had a double-double of 15 markers and 11 boards in the losing effort.
The Scores:
LYCEUM 86 – Ayaay 15, Perez 13, Jc. Marcelino 11, Caduyac 9, Jv. Marcelino 7, Tansingco 7, Pretta 6, Nzeusseu 5, Cinco 5, Baltazar 2, Ibañez 2, Santos 2, Liwag 2, Marata 0.
EAC 74 – Garcia 17, Onwubere 15, Munsayac 9, Tampoc 8, Bugarin 6, Guzman 5, Diego 4, I. Mendoza 3, Corilla 3, Neri 2, J. Mendoza 2, Pascua 0.
Quarters: 29-19, 54-39, 74-59, 86-74.