John Amores showed steely nerves and delivered in the clutch as Jose Rizal University escaped Lyceum, 63-57, in the NCAA Season 98 men's basketball tournament Friday, Oct. 7, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Trailing almost the entire game, the Heavy Bombers clawed their way back and came alive in the payoff period after unloading a commanding 12-0 run sparked by Ry dela Rosa's three-pointer.
Marwin Dionisio, who led all scorers with 15 points and 10 rebounds, Amores, and Joshua Guiab joined forces in that spurt which eventually enabled the Bombers to take control of the ball game down the stretch.
In the last four minutes, JRU ultimately held off Lyceum, holding the latter to just one point courtesy of a split free throw from Shawn Umali with 1:24 remaining.
Despite a strong start in the fourth quarter, Umali's free throw proved to be the last basket that the Pirates would convert as Renzo Navarro and Enoch Valdez's three-pointers missed in their last-second attempts to salvage a one-ball possession game.
"I really prepared my boys na alam kong itong Lyceum, 'yong streak nila there's a reason to that. So it means they are doing good things also," said Bombers head coach Louie Gonzales as his squad just ended the Pirates' five-game win streak. "They're playing as a team so credit also to coach Gilbert Malabanan. But as we progress, it only gets tougher.
"Before the game I told them, 'Ano ba 'yong goals natin right now?' For us to release that pressure, we just have to think that we are doing great and that we're doing the positives," he added.
It is also worth noting that the Pirates' lone three-pointer out of 25 attempts came from Alvin Penafiel. They finished on a 20-of-67 shooting from the field.
William Sy, who stole the limelight in the first half, finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, Amores scored eight points, while Guiab had seven points along with eight rebounds for the Bombers, who rolled to their fifth straight win.
JRU is now tied with Lyceum and San Beda with 5-2 records.
JM Bravo paced the Pirates with 11 points to go with nine rebounds, making him the lone player to reach the double-digit mark.
John Barba contributed nine points and five rebounds while Mclaude Guadana and Penafiel had seven points apiece.