An undermanned Lyceum of the Philippines University and Mapua University will look to extend their respective streaks when they tackle Emilio Aguinaldo College and Colegio de San Juan de Letran in the NCAA Season 99 on Wednesday.
Lyceum will take on EAC at 2 p.m. with the Pirates shooting for their seventh straight win while Mapua will look to strengthen its hold of the second spot against a slumping Letran at 4 p.m. Both games will be at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
Lyceum is coming off a 67-62 win against San Beda University last Sunday with Mclaude Guadana dropping 12 points, including a huge triple that broke a 57-all deadlock late in the game. That huge victory against the Red Lions hiked the Pirates' standing to 6-0, the best in the league so far.
But it's Enoch Valdez and Shawn Umali who have been steadying the ship for the Pirates.
The graduating Valdez leads the squad with 13.67 points on top of 7.17 rebounds, 1.17 assists, 1.83 steals, and 0.17 blocks while big man Umali is averaging 10.17 markers, 7.17 boards, and 2.5 dimes. Umali, however, is tipped to miss the game after an ejection from the previous game which automatically merits a one-game suspension.
They will go up against an EAC side that is reeling from back-to-back losses to JRU and Mapua following a 2-0 start to open its campaign.
In the second game, Mapua will look to add to the woes of three-time defending champion Letran.
The Cardinals have are coming off two consecutive wins against Benilde and EAC with veteran guard Paolo Hernandez and rookie Clint Escamis taking charge.
Escamis is the leading Cardinals with an all-around statline of 13.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 3.6 steals, and 0.4 blocks while Hernandez has 13.0 markers, 4.2 boards, and 2.0 dimes.
The two are tipped to carry the load once more for Mapua in the Battle of Intramuros against the Knights, who have yet to pick up their first win in five outings.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
