Crucial outing

Lyceum is making it no secret that it will come out swinging against San Sebastian when the Pirates shoot for a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four of Season 95 of the NCAA men’s basketball tourney.

“We are not taking chances against San Sebastian. Everyone in this team should be on his toes,” said Lyceum coach Topex Robinson, whose Pirates face his alma mater Tuesday at 2 p.m. at FilOil Flying V Centre.

Defending champion San Beda has a lock on No. 1 seeding after 16 straight wins, and the Pirates have the inside track on No. 2 with a 12-3 record, which is more than two games better than third-placed Letran’s 10-6 slate.

A victory would give the Pirates a 13th win—something the Knights can no longer achieve—and second-seeding in the semifinals that comes with a win-once edge in the round even if the Red Lions go on to sweep the eliminations.

San Beda is within two more wins of an outright entry to the best-of-three title series, and should that happen, Lyceum will have the luxury of playing a fagged out enemy with Nos. 3 and 4 to slug it out in a KO match for the right to clash with the Pirates—and beat them two straight times to advance to the finals.

While Robinson is confident on what his wonder twins Jaycee and Jayvee Marcelino can bring to the table, plus the consistency and stability of Reymar Caduyac and Mike Nzeusseu, more help will be needed against the formidable Stags.

This game is also important for San Sebastian in its own quest to make it past the eliminations.

At 8-6, the Stags are just 1-1/2 games up on fifth-running Mapua.

The Lyceum defense will have to worry about Allyn Bulanadi, the league’s leading scorer who has a reliable support cast in Alvin Capobres, JM Calma and RK Ilagan.

“With the way they (Pirates) are playing right now, everybody in our team should give their 100 percent,’’ said San Sebastian coach Egay Macaraya.

On a downward spiral following an impressive first round, College of St. Benilde tries to fan its flickering playoff hopes when it takes on Emilio Aguinaldo in the 12 noon opener.

The Blazers (6-8) are hard-pressed to win their four remaining games to stay in the hunt for a Final Four slot while also hoping that the Stags and the Mapua Cardinals (7-8) flounder in their succeeding matches.

Still in the running but with little hope, Jose Rizal and Perpetual Help slug it out in the 4 p.m. game.

Just like the Blazers, the Bombers (4-10) and the Altas (3-10) are heavily dependent on the succeeding performances of the Stags and the Cardinals to at least earn a slim chance of making it to the semifinals.