Pirates nail 3rd win in row, repulse Stags

Lyceum of the Philippines U warded off San Sebastian’s fightback in the stretch and carved out a 78-73 yesterday to stay on top in the 93rd NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Filoil Arena in San Juan.

The Pirates held sway in the first three quarters and majority of the fourth then displayed grace under pressure in the stretch to frustrate the Stags and stretch their win run to three, which included a big reversal over the defending champion San Beda Lions.

CJ Perez and skipper Jesper Ayaay fired 20 and 17 points, respectively, as the Pirates led throughout to sustain the school’s best start in the league. The Stags fell to 1-2. Earlier, Jomari Presbitero stepped up to fire a career-high 16 points as the Lions trampled the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, 81-69, to improve to 3-1.

Hardly a factor in their first three outings, Presbitero helped preside over the Lions’ series of runs in the third quarter that saw them turn a close game into a rout.

“I just played my game and followed our game plan and I didn’t even realize I scored this much,” said Presbitero.

Earlier, Jed Mendoza also turned in a career effort of 17 points and made a key stop in the stretch to help propel Jose Rizal U to a 65-62 victory over Letran.

Mendoza, a 21-year-old native of Bataan, spiked his effort with seven rebounds, four assists and a steal off Letran’s JP Calvo, foiling the Knights’ last-ditch bid to force overtime.

“I keep scolding him because it’s my way of telling him how good he is. I will not waste time on him if I didn’t think he’s good,” said JRU mentor Vergel Meneses of Mendoza.

The Knights dropped to 1-2.