John Barba carried the cudgels for Lyceum, dropping a game-high of 20 points to anchor his team en route to an 86-82 win against Perpetual in the second round of the NCAA Season 98 men's basketball tournament Saturday, Nov. 5, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Barba also showed prowess on both ends of the floor and chalked up six rebounds and three assists while Renzo Navarro and Mclaude Guadana joined in the fray in the latter part with 14 points apiece.
Navarro and Guadana also grabbed three rebounds apiece with the veteran captain-point guard dishing out seven assists to keep the ball rolling for the Pirates, who improved to a 9-5 record.
After a nip-and-tuck affair for the most part of the game, Lyceum led by as many as 10 points courtesy of a 9-0 run powered by the likes of Shawn Umali, who had six points and nine rebounds, and Omar Larupay, who chipped in five points.
The Altas, however, showed steely nerves and kept the match within striking distance en route to an 82-80 deficit as it all boiled down to the final sequence down the last two minutes.
After respective exchange of baskets in the ensuing plays, Barba split his shot from the free throw line to keep its momentum with an 85-82 advantage with 12.9 seconds left.
Jielo Razon, who finished with 13 points and seven rebounds for the Altas, however, missed a possible game-tying triple from the left corner against the defense of Enoch Valdez before Barba secured the defensive rebound and got fouled.
Barba, with 3.4 seconds left, kept his calm demeanor and once again split his free throw to ice the game, sending the Altas reeling to their second straight loss with a 5-8 record.
Art Roque paced Perpetual with 16 points, seven rebounds, and four assists while Carlo Ferreras likewise scored 16 points on top of six rebounds.
Jeff Egan also added 11 points for the Pirates, who are now tied up with the Arellano Chiefs at the bottom half of the standings.
The Scores:
LPU 86 -- Barba 20, Navarro 14, Guadana 14, Penafiel 8, Bravo 7, Valdez 6, Umali 6, Montano 6, Larupay 5, Cunanan 0.
PERPETUAL 82 -- Ferreras 16, Roque 16, Razon 13, Egan 11, Omega 8, Flores 8, Abis 4, Nitura 4, Barcuma 2, Martel 0, Pagaran 0, Boral 0, Cuevas 0.
Quarters: 26-18, 47-40, 68-67, 86-82.