FILE – Lyceum Pirates during a huddle in the Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup. FILOIL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Facing a familiar foe, Lyceum didn’t do anything out of the ordinary and just kept its faith in its system.
It paid off for the Pirates after beating NCAA champion Letran, 79-69, in the Filoil Preseason Cup on Tuesday at San Juan Arena.
“We didn’t look at this game any different than our previous ones. Whoever we’re facing, better lineup or not, we’ll play our game. Whatever game we have, we’ll stick with our system,” said Lyceum coach Gilbert Malabanan after guiding his team to its fourth win in five games in Group B play.
“I told them we didn’t need to adjust. Let’s play our game and the rest will follow and thanks to that we’re winning and I’m very thankful for it.”
Lorenzo Navarro broke a 67-deadlock with a triple to spark a game-deciding 9-2 spurt by the Pirates inside the final five minutes.
Lyceum limited Letran to just seven points in the fourth quarter.
John Ronald Barba scored a game-high 22 points while Maverick Venoya tallied 13 for the Pirates.
King Caralipio led Letran in scoring for the second straight game with 13 points. The Knights absorbed their first setback after opening their campaign with back-to-back victories.