Six teams went head-to-head on a rainy Friday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan as the 94th season of the NCAA is in full swing.
The CSB Blazers and Letran Knights finally got their first win of the season while last year's runners-up Lyceum Pirates continue to pace the league with their third straight victory.
Here are the game results on Friday:
Letran def. San Sebastian, 83-76
After a setback in their first game, the Letran Knights finally broke into the win column with an 83-76 win over the San Sebastian Stags.
Team leaders JP Calvo and Bong Quinto did the heavy lifting for the Knights. Quinto controlled the offense with 17 points, eight rebounds, and four assists while Calvo netted 16 points.
Letran coach Jeff Napa was pleased with the output of his two stars but he was more impressed with how they led the team after their opening loss against the Perpetual Help Altas.
"I'm happy with our leaders, they carried the team," Napa said about his two graduating players. "It's a matter of involving their other teammates."
Napa shared that he spoke to his two veterans after their defeat and addressed what they needed to improve.
"What's great about is that we help each other out," Cavlo said. "They (teammates) help me also on how I can carry them. At the same time, I cling to them. We help each other out."
With Calvo and Quinto leading the way, the Knights were able to flex their muscle against their foe. They limited the Stags to 35 percent shooting and outrebounded the, 43-34.
"What we want is to be consistent. This team still has a lot of potential," Napa confidently said.
Lyceum def. JRU, 88-56
The Lyceum Pirates cruised to their third straight win with an 88-56 drubbing of the JRU Heavy Bombers. From start to finish, the Pirates showed no mercy, building a lead as high as 36 points in the lopsided contest.
Lyceum head coach Topex Robinson was particularly grateful for the victory considering his team lost a 31-point lead to the EAC Generals and were almost victims of a huge upset.
"It's a good birthday present for our team manager, Andro Lopez, he requested that the mistakes that we did against EAC wouldn't happen again," Robinson said, also sharing that his veterans CJ Perez and MJ Ayaay were the ones making sure that the team kept their focus throughout the game. "From start to finish, we wanna make sure that we complete the game that we play."
"We always try to tell our players that we have to play our best against any team. What we can control is what we can do," Robinson mentioned.
Mike Nzeusseu powered Lyceum with 21 points and 10 rebounds while Jaycee Marcelino and Perez combiened an additional 24 points. The Pirates dominated the game with their signature pressure defense, forcing JRU to 34 turnovers.
The Pirates continue to show their dominance in the regular season with 21 straight elimination round victories dating back to Season 93.
St. Benilde def. Mapua, 90-79
The CSB Blazers got their first win of the season with a convincing 90-79 victory over the Mapua Cardinals.
Tied at 71 apiece, the Blazers used a backbreaking 17-0 run in the fourth period capped off by a Yankie Haruna basket to put the game away. They held the Cardinals scoreless for roughly five minutes in an incredible showing of defense.
Haruna ended up with 19 points while rookie Justin Gutang tallied 17 points and 10 assists.
But as much it was a tremendous finish by St. Benilde, the team was more concerned with how they started the day. A number of Blazers were stuck in their dorm in Taft because of the flood.
"We had a coaster and they said they couldn't pick us up because the flood was knee-level, so we had no choice. We had to take a pedicab," recalled Haruna. "But luckily, we made it and then we were able to get here."
Despite the unconventional start to their day, the Blazers were able to get their first win of the season.
"I'm happy with the win with the way we played but there a lot of things we can clean up," said coach TY Tang. "Hopefully this momentum that we won today will carry us on our game this coming Tuesday against San Beda."
THE SCORES:
FIRST GAME:
CSB 90 - Haruna 19, Gutang 17, Dixon 13, Leutcheu 8, Pasturan 8, Naboa 6, Domingo 6, Carlos 5, Young 5, Nayve 3, Barnes 0, Velasco 0
MAPUA 79 - Serrano 14, Lugo 14, Bunag 11, Pelayo 8, Bonifacio 8, Jabel 8, Victoria 6, Aguirre 6, Gamboa 3, Salenga 1, Biteng 0, Pajarillo 0
QUARTER SCORES: 15-15, 46-36, 61-59, 90-79
SECOND GAME:
LPU 88 - Nzeusseu 21, Perez 12, Marcelino JC 12, Cinco 11, Yong 6, Ibanez 5, Marcelino JV 4, Valdez 4, Ayaay 3, Pretta 3, Santos 2, Lumbao 2, Serrano 2, Caduyac 1, Tansingco 0
JRU 56 - Mendoza 14, Mallari 10, Dela Virgen 7, Padua 6, Miranda 5, David 5, Esguerra 4, Bordon 4, Estrella 1, Dela Rosa 0, Silvarez 0, Aguilar 0, Santos 0, Ramos 0, Doromal 0
QUARTER SCORES: 21-16, 45-23, 71-39, 88-56
THIRD GAME:
LETRAN 83 - Quinto 17, Calvo 16, Balanza 15, Muyang 8, Fajarito 7, Ambohot 6, Batiller 6, Agbong 3, Celis 3, Taladua 2, Mandreza 0, Balagasay 0, Yu 0
SAN SEBASTIAN 76 - Bulanadi 21, Ilagan 18, Calisaan 11, Dela Cruz 9, Valdez 6, Capobres 6, Calma 2, Desoyo 2, Sumoda 1, Are 0, Villapando 0, Baytan 0
QUARTER SCORES: 15-18, 39-34, 59-50, 83-76