MANILA, Philippines - Lyceum of the Philippines surged past St. Clare, 85-82, and scored its second straight win yesterday in the FilOil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup at The Arena in San Juan.
Shane Ko split his free throws in the last 10.8 seconds of the game, giving the Pirates a three-point cushion. Jason Ibay missed what could have been a game-tying trey in the dying seconds.
The debuting Saints had a taste of the lead in the three-minute mark of the final quarter at 77-76 on Ibay’s triple. They forced a 75-all in the 4:44 mark, erasing the Pirates’ 10-point lead.
“We had lapses on our defense and gave up lots of fouls so we had a hard time in finishing this game; luckily no one fouled out,†said Pirates coach Bonnie Tan.
St. Clare scored 29 charities from 32 fouls of the Pirates, who had six players on foul trouble with four fouls each.
Five Pirates scored double figures, with Wilson Baltazar chipping in 17 points, Rhoel Maconocido 15, Zamora 14 and Guy Mbida and Ko 11 each.
“We’re expecting that kind of (close) game because I told my players that we used to play like St. Clare,†said Tan. “ I told them we can’t be a losing team forever. We should raise the level of our game and start playing as a winning team.†Lance Agcaoili/Contributor