Lyceum held its composure against a persistent Jose Rizal University, escaping with an 82-80 victory on Friday, Nov. 8, to boost its Final Four drive in NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball tournament at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

The Pirates clung to their single-digit lead throughout the payoff period and broke free from the Bombers’ shackling defense particularly in the final minute to pick up their eighth victory in 16 games.

The triumph duplicated Lyceum’s 92-72 first-round feat against JRU, but also temporarily kept them at solo third place with Letran (7-8) and early semifinalist College of St. Benilde (12-2) battling at press time.

As expected, the Pirates drew strength from the hot shooting hands of John Barba, who scattered nine of his 20 points in the fourth quarter while collaring three rebounds.

Renz Villegas, for his part, pumped in 10 of his 18 points in the second quarter, enough for Lyceum to establish a comfortable 47-38 lead at the half, while Gayle Montano also chipped in 18 points including seven in the third period.

JRU attempted to grab the momentum after trailing by only three, 64-61, at the end of the third, threatening Lyceum numerous times including in the waning seconds where the Bombers dropped four straight points to trim their deficit, 81-80, with 22.3 ticks to go.

But Lyceum hung tough, exploiting the remaining seconds until JRU ran out time with Shawn Argente missing a potential buzzer-beating winning triple.

The Pirates’ victory overshadowed the efforts of Joshua Guiab, who dropped 27 points on a splendid 9-of-10 clip from the field in a losing cause for the Bombers.

Already out of semis contention, JRU fell to its third straight defeat for 4-12.

Later in the day, Allen Liwag flexed his MVP muscles as College of St. Benilde downed Letran, 83-78, to inch closer to claiming a twice-to-beat incentive.

Liwag was nothing short of dominating as he pounded his way to 20 points, eight boards and two blocks as the Blazers improved to a league-best 13-2 record, or one win closer to claiming the precious semis bonus.

It also underscored Liwag as the leading candidate to win the most coveted individual plum in the league—MVP.

The Knights, who was minus best big man Kevin Santos, couldn’t sustain a strong start and dropped from a share of fourth to sixth with a 7-9 slate.

The scores:

First Game

LYCEUM 82 – Barba 20, Villegas 18, Montaño 18, Peñafiel 10, Cunanan 4, Aviles 4, Versoza 4, Guadaña 3, Daileg 1, Moralejo 0, Panelo 0.

JRU 80 – Guiab 27, De Jesus 14, Pangilinan 10, Barrera 9, Raymundo 8, Sarmiento 4, Argente 3, Ferrer 3, Bernardo 2, Mosqueda 0, De Leon 0, Lozano 0, Panapanaan 0, Samontanes 0.

Quarters: 23-2; 47-38; 64-61; 82-80.

Second Game

CSB 83 – Liwag 20, Sanchez 16, Sangco 11, Ynot 7, Torres 7, Ancheta 7, Eusebio 7, Ondoa 6, Morales 2, Cometa 0, Oli 0, Cajucom 0.

Letran 78 – Javillonar 31, Estrada 13, Cuajao 10, Montecillo 9, Miller 6, Nunag 5, Monje 4, Delfino 0, Pradella 0, Jumao-As 0, Dimaano 0.

Quarters: 15-27; 47-37; 62-54; 83-78.