SAN JUAN, MM—Arellano held off a late Lyceum run to take an 80-78 win in an early NCAA battle on Friday at the FilOil Flying V Arena.
Leading by as much as 16 at halftime, the Chiefs were up, 78-66, with 5:31 left in the game.
But a 6-0 run by the Pirates saw the lead trimmed down to six, 78-72, with three minutes remaining.
Jio Jalalon finally scored for Arellano with a field goal to stretch the lead to eight, 80-72, with 1:46 to go.
Mer Ayaay and Shaq Alanes converted back-to-back field goals to further cut the Arellano advantage to four, 80-76, with 1:05 left.
Lyceum missed on its first chance to cut the lead more as Jebb Bulawan badly misfired a layup off a steal after a solid defense by Dioncee Holts, but the team got the ball back when the defense forced Jalalon to a turnover. Joseph Gabayni made a quick basket to pull his squad to within two, 78-80, with 28.3 seconds on the clock.
Lyceum grabbed the ball back after a missed Arellano attempt, but Arellano stopped the impending fastbreak with a foul with 3.4 seconds to go.
In the final play, Gabayni appeared to have a clear cut to the rim, but he lost the ball. Ayaay recovered the ball and threw a desperate floater at the final buzzer that went airball.
After a sluggish start to his season, Jalalon showed a performance reminiscent of his gold-medal wares in the SEA Games as he fired 20 points along with 12 assists, six rebounds, and four steals for Arellano, which bounced back from an opening night loss to JRU.
Zach Nicholls also had a better game on Friday with 16 markers and six boards.
Alanes and Gabayni each tallied 20 points for Lyceum with the latter grabbing 18 rebounds and made two blocks.
Box Scores:
Arellano 80-Jalalon 20, Nicholls 16, Salado 10, Meca 8, Cadavis 6, Enriquez 6, Holts 4, Tano 4, Bangga 4, Ortega 2, Capara 0, Ongolo 0, Zamora 0
Lyceum 78-Alanes 20, Gabayni 20, Ayaay 10, Nguidjol 8, Lacastesantos 6, Mbida 5, Lugo 3, Bulawan 2, Taladua 2, Marata 2, Baltazar 0, Soliman 0, Malabanan 0
Quarterscores: 29-17, 51-35, 68-59, 80-78
Leading by as much as 16 at halftime, the Chiefs were up, 78-66, with 5:31 left in the game.
But a 6-0 run by the Pirates saw the lead trimmed down to six, 78-72, with three minutes remaining.
Jio Jalalon finally scored for Arellano with a field goal to stretch the lead to eight, 80-72, with 1:46 to go.
Mer Ayaay and Shaq Alanes converted back-to-back field goals to further cut the Arellano advantage to four, 80-76, with 1:05 left.
Lyceum missed on its first chance to cut the lead more as Jebb Bulawan badly misfired a layup off a steal after a solid defense by Dioncee Holts, but the team got the ball back when the defense forced Jalalon to a turnover. Joseph Gabayni made a quick basket to pull his squad to within two, 78-80, with 28.3 seconds on the clock.
Lyceum grabbed the ball back after a missed Arellano attempt, but Arellano stopped the impending fastbreak with a foul with 3.4 seconds to go.
In the final play, Gabayni appeared to have a clear cut to the rim, but he lost the ball. Ayaay recovered the ball and threw a desperate floater at the final buzzer that went airball.
After a sluggish start to his season, Jalalon showed a performance reminiscent of his gold-medal wares in the SEA Games as he fired 20 points along with 12 assists, six rebounds, and four steals for Arellano, which bounced back from an opening night loss to JRU.
Zach Nicholls also had a better game on Friday with 16 markers and six boards.
Alanes and Gabayni each tallied 20 points for Lyceum with the latter grabbing 18 rebounds and made two blocks.
Box Scores:
Arellano 80-Jalalon 20, Nicholls 16, Salado 10, Meca 8, Cadavis 6, Enriquez 6, Holts 4, Tano 4, Bangga 4, Ortega 2, Capara 0, Ongolo 0, Zamora 0
Lyceum 78-Alanes 20, Gabayni 20, Ayaay 10, Nguidjol 8, Lacastesantos 6, Mbida 5, Lugo 3, Bulawan 2, Taladua 2, Marata 2, Baltazar 0, Soliman 0, Malabanan 0
Quarterscores: 29-17, 51-35, 68-59, 80-78