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| Ato Barba took flight anew to give Lyceum a huge edge in the race for the last Final Four spot. NCAA |
MANILA––Lyceum escaped a late fightback from Jose Rizal University for an 82-80 win in a crucial NCAA game on Friday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
The Pirates held an 81-76 lead with 1:20 to go when the Heavy Bombers turned to their pressure defense that led to a free throw from Shawn Argente and a wide-open layup from Karl De Jesus that cut the lead down to two, 81-79, with 34.6 seconds remaining.
After forcing another Lyceum turnover, Joshua Guiab had a chance to tie the game for JRU, but he split his two free throws and Lyceum kept the lead with 22.3 seconds to go.
The Pirates finally solved the Heavy Bombers' press and Mac Guadaña split his charities with 3.8 seconds left for the final count.
With no timeout left, JRU had to rely on a halfcourt heave from Argente that only hit the backboard as time expired.
Ato Barba led Lyceum, which moved back to solo fourth place at 8-8, with 20 points, three rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Renz Villegas and Gyle Montaño each added 18 points.
Guiab made 27 points on 9-of-10 field goals, nine rebounds, four assists, and one steal for the already-eliminated JRU, which fell to 4-12.
The scores:
LYCEUM 82 РBarba 20, Villegas 18, Monta̱o 18, Pe̱afiel 10, Cunanan 4, Aviles 4, Versoza 4, Guada̱a 3, Daileg 1, Moralejo 0, Panelo 0
JRU 80 – Guiab 27, De Jesus 14, Pangilinan 10, Barrera 9, Raymundo 8, Sarmiento 4, Argente 3, Ferrer 3, Bernardo 2, Mosqueda 0, De Leon 0, Lozano 0, Panapanaan 0, Samontanes 0
Quarterscores: 23-21, 47-38, 64-61, 82-80
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