WATCH:
Lyceum of the Philippines University finally broke through in NCAA Season 101, but not without scare as it survived Jose Rizal University, 78-76, on Tuesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.
The Pirates, who lost their first five games, including two double-overtime and one overtime losses, flipped the switch in the fourth after turning a 66-71 deficit to a six-point lead.
Renz Villegas was instrumental in that stretch, sinking three straight points before dishing three huge passes in a row that led to a triple each from Ato Barba and Jonathan Daileg and a layup from Joshua Moralejo as Lyceum built a 77-71 cushion with 1:19 left.
But the Heavy Bombers staged a fightback behind Shawn Argente.
The veteran guard knocked down two free throws off an uncharacteristic unsportsmanlike foul from Lyon Pallingayan before burying a long three-pointer off an inbound pass from Stephen Garupil as JRU pulled to within one in the final 2.7 seconds.
Argente's foul sent Daileg to the line to seal it as a final heave from Argente didn't go through.
Barba top-scored with 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists while his backcourt partner Villegas finished with 14 markers, six boards, five dimes, two blocks, and one steal to help the Pirates break out of slump.
The Pirates put an end to their five-game losing skid to start the season, barging into the win column of Group A at 1-5 while the Heavy Bombers slipped to 3-4 in Group B.
"I thank God for this win and also the players and my coaches who worked really hard to get this first win. I give credit to them and of course, it's a first win so we're happy," LPU head coach Gilbert Malabanan said.
"They played as a team kasi kalat-kalat talaga 'yung scoring namin so ayun naman talaga 'yung LPU ever since e, unpredictable. You don't know kung sino 'yung puputok sa kanila."
(They played as a team because our scoring was spread out and that's what LPU has been ever since, unpredictable. You don't know who among them will explode.)
Argente finished with 26 points on top of three rebounds and assists while Garupil churned out 17 markers, two dimes, and four steals as they absorbed their second loss in a row.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
