One Day Later: LPU vs SSCR, JRU vs UPHSD

SSCR 82 - LPU 57
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Player of the Game : The Lyceum Pirates committed the cardinal error of giving Abueva space to start his dribble before making his move and paid dearly for it, as "The Beast" registered 28 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in just 26 minutes, shooting 10 for 16 from the field. It was the fourth straight double-double in as many appearances for Abueva, who continues to pad the stat sheets, making him a clear-cut favorite for MVP, if he doesn't mess up.

LPU Stat to Watch : The three-point shot abandoned the Pirates, as the stout defense by the Stags held them to just 3 of 21 attempts from beyond the arc. Unable to create spacing for themselves, the Stags were able to clog the paint, where their superior height caused problems for Lyceum.
LPU Player to Watch : Chris Cayabyab did in fact draw the attention of Abueva, and the sharpshooter turned cold, finishing with just 9 points, his first sub-double digit game of the season. Shooting 2 of 10 from the field, 1 of 6 from downtown, Cayabyab even had once of his treys sent back at him by Abueva. He at least finished with 6 assists, drawing enough attention to get teammates open looks.

SSCR Stat to Watch : Despite slowing down the pace to prevent fast break opportunities for the Pirates, the Stags still got to 27 turnovers, with Abueva having 6, and big man Sangalang tallying 4. That said, it didn't come back to haunt them as they held Lyceum to just one turnover point thanks to excellent transition defense.
SSCR Player to Watch : Pinatubo Trio aside, Lyle Antipuesto was the next highest scorer for the Stags, finishing with five points, three coming from a triple, off the bench in 20 minutes.

Other stats:

• The Pirates got 0 fast break points on just 5 attempts, as the Stags shut down their running game by slowing down the tempo and forcing Lyceum to play half-court. 
• San Sebastian held Lyceum to just 27% shooting, 20 of 73 from the field, while shooting nearly 50% themselves, 30 of 61, though they were only 1 of 7 from downtown. 
• The Stags also finished with 10 more attempts from the stripe, 28 to 18, hitting 21 of them. 

UPHDS 79 - JRU 77
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Player of the Game : Jeorge Allen surprised everyone with his movie sequence-like return to the court, as the number of Altas who could take to the court was rapidly dwindling. Though he was still clearly limited, Allen gave 100%, fighting and boxing out the taller JRU big men, and scoring two huge  baskets, including the game-winning buzzer beater. His final stats, 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal in 7 minutes, barely tell the story of how he lifted his teammates with his early return to play.

JRU Stat to Watch : The aggressive Heavy Bombers often got the Altas into the penalty situation first, but never really capitalized on it, due to their inability to hit free throws. Though they had double the trips to the line of Perpetual Help, 45 to 22, JRU only made 26 of the 25, for 58% (to be fair, UPHDS was also mediocre, 13 of 22, but JRU had more attempts)
JRU Player to Watch : Raycon Kabigting regressed in this game, scoring just 5 points on 2 of 11 shooting, making none of his six attempts from beyond the arc. Late in the game, it became clear that they were trying to get this guy going, running various screen plays to free him up, but he kept missing. By the second overtime, the Bombers should have abandoned the ploy and concentrated on getting their big guys the ball instead.

UPHDS Stat to Watch : The Altas finished the game shooting 37% from the field, up from their average of 31%. Prior to the overtime though, they managed just 53 points, lower than their average of 59.8 points a game, courtesy of a 7 point fourth quarter!
UPHDS Player to Watch : Chris Elopre didn't get on the score board that much, finishing with just 4 points on 2 of 8 shooting, but his presence in all three overtimes certainly helped stabilize the Altas late, helping fight off the ball pressure by quickly crossing halfcourt.

Other Stats:

• JRU committed more turnovers remarkably, 32 to 28, and as a result, UPHDS got more turnover points, 25 to 19. The two sides also didn't get a lot of fastbreaks, with the Altas edging the Heavy Bombers slightly in that category, 8 to 6.
• Despite a sizable height advantage, JRU had just one more offensive rebound than Perpetual Help, finishing 19 to 18. 
• JRU's big men troika of Ronnel Carampil, John Lopez and Jeckster Apinan scored 45 of their squad's 77 points and totaled 31 of their 53 rebounds, but the trio also committed 18 turnovers, more than half of their team's 32. 

NCAA Picking Record: 14-9