Cade Flores and Axel Doromal formed a dynamic one-two punch as Arellano snapped its three-game skid with a 77-63 win against Lyceum in the second round of the NCAA Season 98 men's basketball tournament Wednesday, Oct. 26, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
The do-it-all Flores put up a monster performance of 23 points built on an 8-of-11 shooting from the free throw line on top of 12 rebounds, seven steals, and two assists to carry the cudgels for the Chiefs, enabling them to get back in the win column and improve at 5-6 record.
Doromal, who took charge down the stretch, chalked up 18 points, five rebounds, and five assists while Jade Talampas also had nine points and five rebounds for Arellano.
The Chiefs, finally ending their slump, needed a strong and efficient third quarter run powered by the duo of Flores and Doromal to turn the tides in favor of them in the second half.
Arellano led by as many as 19 points with a 62-43 gap heading into the payoff period as the Chiefs outscored the Pirates, 31-14.
Lyceum, for its part, did not falter and showed resistance come the last quarter as Renz Villegas and JM Bravo connived to cut the deficit at least down to 10, 68-58.
But Doromal played the spoiler's role and only needed two straight conversions to hand Arellano another 14-point cushion, 75-61, with less than two minutes and 30 seconds remaining.
While Flores provided the spark for Arellano, it was Doromal who put the nail in the coffin as he continued to torch Lyceum to pull away for good until the last minute. That proved to be it for the Pirates, who sustained an 8-4 slate but still remained in the Top 4 of the leaderboard.
Villegas paced Lyceum with 12 points, Bravo chipped in 12 points as well along with 12 rebounds, while John Barba and Enoch Valdez had nine points apiece.
The Pirates suffered from their shooting woes as go-to sharpshooter Mclaude Guadana was limited to two points only on a dismal 1-of-8 shooting clip but had four rebounds, and three assists.
The Chiefs also did their job on the defensive end, forcing the Pirates to commit 24 turnovers while holding off the likes of veteran Enzo Navarro as well big man Shawn Umali, who both had four points only.
The Scores:
ARELLANO 77 -- Flores 23, Doromal 18, Talampas 9, Menina 8, Mallari 6, Tolentino 6, Domingo 2, Abastillas 2, Sunga 2, Oliva 1, Mantua 0, Oftana 0.
LPU 63 -- Bravo 12, Villegas 12, Barba 9, Valdez 9, Navarro 4, Umali 4, Larupay 3, Montano 3, Vinoya 3, Cunanan 2, Guadana 2, Aviles 0, Caduyac 0, Culanay 0.
Quarters: 20-21, 33-34, 64-48, 77-63.