By MARK REY MONTEJO
Jearlan Omandac came through with huge baskets in the crunch to help lift Lyceum to a pulsating 84-81 win over College of St. Benilde in the NCAA Season 99 men’s basketball tournament Friday, Nov. 10, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
The 6-foot-5 Omandac, a sophomore from Tagum, Davao del Norte, poured all of his 9 points in the payoff period – none more lethal than his back-to-back triples from the top of the key that enabled the Pirates to grab an 83-79 lead and eventually take the fight out of the Blazers.
More importantly, the Pirates stretched their win run to five games, thus tying the Mapua Cardinals for the lead once again at 11-3. Both teams need to win two of their last four games to secure berth in the semis.
Omandac’s late game explosion more than made up for awful shooting early in the game.
“Tiwala sa sarili ko na kahit na puro mintis sa first half, tiwala ako papasok,” said the burly
Omandac.
While Lyceum continued its hot form, it also snapped CSB’s winning streak to five games for a 9-5 record.
LPU head tactician Gilbert Malabanan credited their win to the trust he gave to his players, saying: “Gaya nga ng sinabi ko dati, I always trusted my players.”
“Be aggressive at all times, even though malas ka sa offense [kahit] sa defense at aggressiveness makatulong sila,” he added.
Enoch Valdez led all Lyceum scorers with 15 points on top of six rebounds and three steals while JM Bravo and John Barba added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
For a while, the Blazers appeared headed to another big win when they took a 71-65 advantage, courtesy of five straight points from reigning MVP Will Gozum.
But Valdez and Bravo conspired in a telling 5-0 run following Benilde’s turnovers to help turn the game around in their favor.
The scores:
LPU 84– Valdez 15, Bravo 14, Barba 13, Umali 9, Omandac 9, Guadana 7, Penafiel 6, Cunanan 5, Versoza 2, Villegas 2, Montano 2, Fuentes 0.
CSB 81– Oczon 19, Carlos 16, Gozum 13, Corteza 11, Nayve 7, Morales 7, Marcos 5, Arciaga 3, Turco 0, Mara 0, Marasigan 0, Cajucom 0, Jarque 0.
Quarters: 18-20; 43-45; 59-64; 84-81.
