Pirates escape Cardinals for share top spot

Lyceum showed great poise and defiance in the face of huge Mapua fightback, scoring an 86-82 win for a share of the top spot in the NCAA Season 99 men’s basketball tournament on Friday, Nov. 3, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

The Pirates almost squandered a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter when Clint Escamis went berserk and led the Cardinals’ uprising, leaning on the timely hits of Patrick Montano to fend off multiple comeback attempts in the endgame.

With the win, Lyceum hiked its record to 9-3 and tied Mapua atop the standings.

Montano fired 18 points, including four three-pointers that all proved lethal in the closing minutes.

The Pirates pulled off a 15-4 blitz for a 63-44 cushion in the third salvo, which saved them from Escamis’ fourth quarter eruption who drilled his 14 points for the Cardinals in the fourth frame.

Mapua actually had the tempo on its side after sparking a 13-4 attack led by Jopet Soriano and Marco Cuenco to open the final frame.

But Lyceum gave the ball to Montano and had enough cushion to preserve the victory.

Shawn Umali backstopped Montano with 17 points, while John Bravo and Vince Cunanan added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Escamis tied his career high of 25 points, which all went down the drain despite his late-game heroics. Team captain Enoch Valdez had a quiet seven points for LPU.

The scores:

LPU 86 – Montano 18, Umali 17, Bravo 12, Cunanan 10, Villegas 8, Valdez 7, Guadana 6, Omandac 4, Penafiel 4, Barba 0, Aviles 0, Fuentes 0

Mapua 82 – Escamis 25, Soriano 13, Cuenco 11, Rosilio 8, Dalisay 6, Recto 4, Bancale 4, Asuncion 2, Hernandez 0, Fornis 0

Quarterscores: 20-26; 48-40; 69-57; 86-82