Pirates sustain marauding ways
Sta. Elena and Army face off today in a crucial battle for the remaining semifinal berth in the men’s division of the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at The Arena in San Juan City.
Game time is at 10 a.m. with the Wrecking Balls and the Troopers hoping to complete the semis cast after the Megabuilders Volley Bolts, Cignal HD Spikers and Air Force Jet Spikers.
Sta. Elena kept its title bid alive Sunday when it bested Café Lupe, 17-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-22, to tie Army for fourth spot at the end of eliminations with identical 4-3 win-loss records.
Apart from coming off a recent victory, Sta. Elena holds the advantage on paper after defeating Army in their elims matchup last July 16, 25-15, 25-22, 21-25, 23-25.
But Army is riding on a threegame winning streak to end the elims on a high note.
Berlin Paglinawan will spearhead Sta. Elena anew after currently leading the best scoring department, but Army boasts of a defensive gem in Jayvee Sumagaysay, the second best blocker in the conference to date.
Also lending a helping hand for Sumagaysay are Benjaylo Labide and Romnick Rico.
Both Sta. Elena and Army are hungry to make it to the next round. The Wrecking Balls aim to eclipse their best finish of third place in the Open Conference last year, while the Troopers have not gone beyond the elims.
The winner of the playoffs will meet top seed Cignal in the best-ofthree semis which starts on Saturday. Lyceum showed no signs of slowing down as the Pirates dominated the ColTajikistan lege of St. Benilde Blazers, 98-55, yesterday to remain unscathed in the 93rd NCAA men’s basketball at The Arena in San Juan City.
The Pirates leaned on a huge second quarter performance where they outscored the Blazers, 31-10, to erect an imposing 47-21 halftime lead from a 1611 first quarter advantage.
The Intramuros-based squad sustained the fiery momentum in the third period where Wilson Baltazar drained back-to-back treys to help Lyceum pull away, 68-34, and never looked back.
The Pirates led by as many as 46 points, 91-45, courtesy of CJ Perez’s basket with three minutes left in the game.
Lyceum posted its fifth straight victory in as many outings to distance itself from closest pursuer, defending champion San Beda (4-1).
St. Benilde, meanwhile, fell to its third straight loss against a lone win.
Lyceum Coach Topex Robinson credited his stalwarts' mental attitude after taking charge for most parts of the game.
Lyceum avenged being the lone victim of St. Benilde's 1-17 record last year.
"They're working hard, but at the same time, they're having fun. They're capitalizing on making the stops and that is important to us," said Robinson.
In the other game, Jeo Ambohot and Rey Nambatac scored 15 points apiece to lift Letran past Arellano, 82-75.
The Knights improved to 2-3 and tied with the Chiefs.