Batangas teams force showdown

MANILA, Philippines — Alpha Bah made all his 17 free throws on the way to a season-high 36 points as Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas downed Diliman College, 80-70, yesterday to set up an intriguing quarterfinal showdown with University of Batangas in the Universities and Colleges Athletic League-PG Flex Linoleum Season 6 at the Paco Arena in Manila.

In his finest game so far, the 6-foot-5 Bah proved he’s not a one-dimensional player as he also went 5-of-11 from the three-point zone and 2-of-6 inside apart from grabbing 10 boards to complete another double-double.

The Pirates started strong, wavered a bit in the second round before outscoring the Blue Dragons 19-10 in the third to regain the lead for good.

With the win, the Pirates finished fifth at the end of the two-phase elims, thus arranging a quarterfinals date with the UB Brahmans who ended up fourth.

The first set of the quarters will be held on Thursday with the UB-LPU tiff set at 2 p.m. while No. 6 Diliman collides with No. 3 Olivarez College.

No. 1 seed and reigning titlist Centro Escolar University collides with No. 8 Guang Ming College on March 9 with the Scorpions enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage.

Second-seeded Philippine Christian University-Dasmariñas also owns a twice-to-beat when it faces No. 7 Manila Central University, which closed out its elims campaign with a 90-79 win over Philippine Women’s University.