Pirates keep Altas at bay to stay undefeated

MANILA, Philippines -- The Lyceum Pirates stayed unblemished in the NCAA Season 99 men's basketball tournament after quelling a comeback try by the Perpetual Help Altas, 76-73, Saturday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

After trailing by as much as 18 points in the game, Perpetual cut the deficit to one, 73-74, after a 3-pointer by Carlo Ferreras with 22.3 seconds left in the game.

Following an intentional foul, Lyceum was able to steal the ball and go to the other end, but Ferreras was called for a costly turnover as his pass sailed out of bounds.

Vincent Cunanan calmly sank the free throws to give the Pirates a 76-73 lead.

On the other end, Christian Pagaran missed a wide open 3-pointer that would have tied the game. He grabbed his own rebound and also missed a floater as time expired.

Enoch Valdez led Lyceum with 13 points and six rebounds.

Mclaude Guadana and Patrick Montano had nine points apiece.

Jelo Razon and Mark Omega finished with 14 each, with the latter pulling down 15 rebounds.

Lyceum now has a 3-0 record, while Perpetual is still winless in the tournament.

Meanwhile, the San Sebastian College Stags obliterated Arellano Chiefs, 111-86, earlier in the day.

Six Stags finished in double digits led by Mark de Leon, who had 16 points and three rebounds.

Lorenz Capulong top-scored for Arellano with 21 points and added five rebounds.