Lyceum Pirates vs Arellano Chiefs in NCAA Season 98. –NCAA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—A dissatisfied Lyceum ended its first round of the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball tournament with a close win against Arellano, 82-80, at San Juan Arena on Tuesday.
Despite finishing the first round with seven wins and two losses, coach Gilbert Malabanan was not satisfied with how the Pirates ended their game against the Chiefs.
“In our game here, I’m not satisfied. I told them, if they play this way in the second round we will not win any games. That was not our game, we were not playing as a team, offensively and defensively,” Malabanan said.
Lyceum held a 12-point lead entering the fourth quarter, 70-58, but that was quickly cut down to a 75-70 courtesy of a 12-5 run by the Chiefs.
The Pirates held their own until the final minute with Enoch Valdez bucket putting Lyceum atop, 81-75, before Shane Menina took matters into his own hands by sinking a long ball put Arellano within sniping distance, 81-78, with 48.6 seconds remaining.
Joshua Abastillas’ block forced a stop with 28.9 seconds left but Menina missed an equalizing triple in a bit to send the game into to overtime with 10.8 ticks remaining.
Gyle Montaño led Lyceum in scoring with 16 points and seven rebounds. John Barba tallied 15 while Valdez had 14 for the Pirates.
Axel Doromal finished with a game-high 21 markers for Arellano, Menina added 14 points while Joshua Abastillas and Cade Flores scored 12 and 11 and snatched eight rebounds each.
The Chiefs skidded in the standings with a 4-5 record.
THE SCORES
The Scores: LPU 82 — Montano 16, Barba 15, Guadana 14, Valdez 9, Umali 7, Bravo 7, Larupay 6, Penafiel 4, Cunanan 3, Navarro 1, Villegas 0.
ARELLANO 80 — Doromal 21, Menina 14, Abastillas 12, Flores 11, Oftana 8, Mantua 8, Tolentino 4, Mallari 2, Oliva 0, Antonio 0.
Quarters: 22-19, 44-42, 70-58, 82-80.