No end to Pirates pillage

Games tomorrow

2 p.m. – Letran vs St. Benilde (Jrs)

4 p.m. – Letran vs St. Benilde (Srs)

MANILA, Philippines - Lyceum of the Philippines U smothered St. Benilde with its full court trap and came away with a 98-55 rout yesterday to roll to its fifth straight victory in the 93rd NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.

The Pirates held the Blazers to just 10 points in the second period while pouring in 31 points of their own as they broke away from a five-point game (16-11) to a whopping 47-21 bulge at the half.

Still, the Pirates never let up against the hapless Blazers at resumption, posting leads of as many as 46 twice, the last at 91-45 on a CJ Perez basket with over three minutes left in the one-sided contest.

The win thus stretched Lyceum’s record start to 5-0 with a sweep of the first round elims looms as the Pirates have hurdled the league’s top four teams, including defending champion San Beda and last year’s runner-up Arellano U.

“We made stops and forced turnovers. That made it easier for us,” said LPU coach Topex Robinson, seeking to steer the school to its first Final Four appearance since joining the league six seasons ago.

Meanwhile, Rey Nambatac scored 10 of his team’s last 12 points as Letran turned back Arellano U, 82-75, in the other game to tie its victim at 2-3.

Nambatac finished with 15 points on top of 12 rebounds, five assists and two steals while 6-6 Jeo Ambohot dropped 15 points, 13 boards and five blocks against his former team.

Jeremiah Taladua, a transferee from LPU, also had a double-double with 13 points and 11 caroms.

LPU forced St. Benilde to a season low 40 turnovers and scored 43 points off them, also a season high, including 26 off fast breaks, another season-best.

St. Benilde’s errors also proved to be the league’s worst since San Sebastian committed 43 in a 76-82 defeat to Letran two years ago.

The rout also more than made up for Lyceum’s 61-65, loss to St. Benilde for the latter’s only win in 18 games last season.

“We remembered the time they (St. Benilde) beat us last year, that’s the motivation for us,” said Robinson.

The Blazers slid to 1-3.

Unforgiving in defense, the Pirates also proved unrelenting on the other side, draining eight triples in the first half, more than CSB’s total field goals (seven).

Twins Jaycee and Jayvee Marcelino combined for 24 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals for the Pirates, who also drew 16 points from veteran Wilson Baltazar and 14 markers from Perez.

Later in the day, GJ Ylagan hit four pressure-packed free throws and came up with a defensive gem as Perpetual Help repelled San Sebastian, 68-65, to notch its second straight win after dropping its first two games.

The Stags dropped to 1-3.

The scores:

First Game

LPU 98 – Marcelino JC 17, Baltazar 16, Perez 14, Pretta 10, Tansingco 9, Marcelino JV 7, Nzeusseu 6, Caduyac 6, Marata 4, Ayaay 4, Santos 4, Serrano 1, Ibanez 0, Liwag 0

St. Benilde 55 – Naboa 14, Leutcheu 7, Belgica 7, Johnson 6, San Juan 4, Bunyi 4, Young 3, Domingo 3, Pili 3, Castor 2, Suarez 2, Dixon 0, Sta. Maria 0, Mercado 0, Velasco 0

Quarterscores: 16-11, 47-21, 68-34, 98-55

Second Game

Letran 82 – Ambohot 15, Nambatac 15, Taladua 13, Balanza 12, Calvo 9, Quinto 8, Balagasay 4, Pascual 4, Mandreza 2, Bernabe 0, Caralipio 0, Gedaria 0

Arellano 75 – Flores 17, Salado 15, Canete 12, Enriquez 10, Alcoriza 8, Concepcion 5, Dela Cruz 3, Nicholls 3, Taywan 2, Meca 0, Ongolo-Ongolo 0, Abanes 0, Padilla 0, Rivera 0

Quarterscores: 18-25, 46-38, 57-58, 82-75

Third Game

Perpetual Help 68 – Ylagan 15, Eze 12, Coronel 10, Yuhico 9, Pido 6, Dagangon 6, Singontiko 5, Sadiwa 3, Lucente 2, Tamayo 0, Mangalino 0

San Sebastian 65 – Calisaan 14, Costelo 13, Bulanadi 12, Ilagan 8, Gayosa 7, David 7, Mercado 3, Navarro 1, Baetiong 0, Baytan 0, Valdez 0, Are 0, Calma 0, Quipse 0

Quarterscores: 13-14, 30-22, 49-44, 68-65