John Barba drilled crucial baskets to steer Lyceum of the Philippines University to a tight 70-69 win against Colegio de San Juan de Letran in the NCAA Season 99 on Wednesday.
Down three 69-66, Barba went for a quick jumper to trim the gap to just a point in the final 53.6 seconds. He then completed a fastbreak layup which proved pivotal as Kobe Monje missed the final three-point attempt.
Lyceum has now beaten last season’s finalists to improve to 2-0 while Letran found itself deep im a 0-2 hole.
No team can pull away for good after the first two quarters but Shawn Umali managed to bring Lyceum to a 48-42 lead before back-to-to back triples from Monje and Deo Cuajao saw Letran regain a 51-48 lead late in the third.
Lyceum and Letran headed to the fourth separated by just a point, 52-51, with the Pirates ahead.
Kevin Santos’ bucket from underneath the basket brought Letran to a crucial 67-63 lead but Shawn Umali nailed a rare triple to cut the deficit to one.
Kurt Reyson then buried a long jumper for a 69-66 cushiom witht 1:48 to go.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
