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Gyle Montaño flexed his best game this year so far, steering Lyceum of the Philippines University to a crucial 88-74 win against San Sebastian College-Recoletos in the NCAA Season 101 on Saturday at the Filoil Centre.
The veteran forward dropped a season-high 22 points as the Pirates rose to solo fourth in Group A with a 3-8 card to improve their outright quarterfinal chances while the Stags fell to 3-9.
LPU pulled away in the second half, turning a slim 52-47 halftime lead to a 63-53 cushion in the third thanks to a pair of three-pointers from Jonathan Daileg before Omar Gordon fired a corner triple at the buzzer to make it a 71-59 cushion.
The Stags, though, made some runs behind Junix Segovia, whose back-to-back baskets cut the deficit to six, 65-71, early in the fourth.
Montaño and his fellow graduating guard Renz Villegas connived in the next sequence with the latter burying a triple to cap off an 11-0 swing and establish a pivotal 82-65.
Villegas sealed the victory with two consecutive layups that allowed LPU to bounce back from a previous loss to defending champion Mapua University.
He also finished with 14 points, including eight in the fourth period, together with six rebounds, two steals, and one assist while Simon Peñafiel and Genesis Aviles chipped in nine and eight points each.
Team captain Ato Barba was only held to six points but made up for it in rebounding after hauling 16 boards laced with seven assists.
The loss sent San Sebastian to its second loss in a row since their back-to-back wins over Letran and Perpetual even with rookie star Jhuniel Dela Rama dropping 19 points on top of seven rebounds and three steals.
Scores:
LPU 88 – Montaño 22, Villegas 14, Peñafiel 9, Versoza 8, Aviles 8, Moralejo 7, Barba 6, Daileg 5, Casiño 5, Gordon 3, Pallingayan 1, Matienzo 0.
San Sebastian 74 – Dela Rama 19, Gabat 13, Cuajao 11, Ricio 10, Castor 9, Segovia 6, Dimaunahan 4, Lumanag 2, Gomez De Liaño 0, Cabilla 0.
Quarters: 28-29, 52-47, 71-59, 88-74.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
