Pirates shock Chiefs in elims closer

By Dugout Philippines

The Lyceum Pirates had to withstand a late Arellano Chiefs rally before hacking out a 101-96 upset win to end the NCAA men's basketball elimination round at the FilOil Flying V Arena.

The Pirates were ahead, 78-59, entering the final frame.

But the Chiefs outscored them, 35-18, in the first 9:03 of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to only two, 96-94, with only 57 seconds left.

Lyceum connected on free throws to extend the lead to four in the next play.

But Arellano answered with two charities of its own to bring the lead back to two.

The Pirates then converted two more to up the lead anew to four with 18.9 seconds remaining.

John Pinto tried to put the Chiefs closer, but the Pirates defense swatted his three-point attempt that sealed their win.

Joseph Gabayni ended his rookie campaign in the NCAA with another double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds for Lyceum, which finished in seventh place with a 7-11 record.

On the other hand, Arellano was relegated to a third showdown with San Beda for the top spot on Friday.

Both the Chiefs and the Red Lions ended up tied for first with identical 13-5 records at the end of the eliminations.

Both teams split their regular season series with Arellano winning the second meeting on a last-second layup by Ralph Salcedo.
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