LPU Pirates vs EAC Generals

Lyceum played with sheer guts with a depleted roster as it rallied from 10 points down to beat Emilio Aguinaldo College, 77-73, and revive its semifinal hopes in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

Rich Guevarra fired 21 points and finished with seven rebounds and two steals while Mark Francisco shot a career-best 19 points for the Pirates, who played without center Allan Santos, who was suspended for misconduct, guard Dexter Zamora, who dislocated his shoulder in last week’s loss to Arellano, and ailing Kevin Lacap and John Azores.

They trailed at 57-67 with 5:21 left in the contest but clamped down on defense, forcing the Generals to a series of turnovers, which they converted into precious points for the victory that snapped their four-game skid.

It was Lyceum’s sixth against nine defeats as it moved just half-a-game behind idle fourth-running Mapua (6-8) in the battle for the last semifinal berth.

EAC’s Gian Mallari hit a triple to shatter a 70-all count with 47 seconds left in the game but the Generals failed to deliver down the stretch as the Pirates, with Guevarra, Francisco and Jhygruz Laude combining, snatched the win.

“Going into this game we were a little bit down since we lost a lot of players and we were coming from a losing streak,” said Lyceum coach Bonnie Tan.

Francisco, who played a total of 25 minutes in the previous six games, also grabbed 18 rebounds in 32 minutes of action.

Chris Cayabyab nailed 12 points before fouling out and Ko tallied 11 points, six rebounds and four assists for Lyceum.

Claude Cubo had 29 points and nine rebounds for EAC, which fell to ninth place with a 4-10 slate. – Joey Villar