Lyceum of the Philippines University saw its stars return from sickbay en route to carving out an 86-82 escape against Mapua University in NCAA Season 99 on Friday.
The Pirates have now won three games in a row to forge an identical 9-3 card with Mapua.
The Pirates went ballistic in the third frame with Gyle Patrick Montaño and Shawn Umali firing bombs from rainbow country before the latter’s two freebies stretched their 48-40 halftime lead to a 65-46 cushion.
They held a 69-57 cushion heading to the fourth.
However, rookie Escamis single-handedly fueled Mapua’s late comeback attempt, steadily sinking three freebies off a JM Bravo foul before his own steal led to a triple that made it an 82-79 affair with 38 ticks left.
Things got intense after a heated exchange between Shawn Umali and Ryle Rosillo which led to the latter’s ejection due to two technical fouls.
Renz Villegas knocked down three free throws to bring Lyceum back up by six, 85-79, before Escamis again buried a triple to cut that to three.
Simon Pañafiel split his free throw to seal the deal as Paolo Hernandez missed his last-gasp triple attempt.
Montaño poured in 18 points laced with four rebounds, one assist, and one steal while Umali chipped in 17 markers, five boards, two dimes, two steals, and one block as they stepped up for the Pirates.
JM Bravo, who suffered an injury last game, returned and flirted with a double-double of 12 points and nine rebounds. The three stepped up big time for usual suspects Enoch Valdez and John Barba, who came back from separate injuries but have yet to regain their tip-top forms.
Lyceum spoiled Escamis' career-high in scoring as he tallied 25 points for the Cardinals.
Scores:
LPU 86- Montano 18, Umali 17, Bravo 12, Cunanan 10, Villegas 8, Valdez 7, Guadana 6, Omandac 4, Penafiel 4, Barba 0, Aviles 0, Fuentes 0.
Mapua 82- Escamis 25, Soriano 13, Cuenco 11, Rosilio 8, Dalisay 6, Recto 4, Bancale 4, Asuncion 2, Hernandez 0, Fornis 0.
Quarterscores: 20-26; 48-40; 69-57; 86-82.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
