NCAA S87: LPU vs SBC

History Lesson:
Down a man to start the game with point guard Shane Ko out with a wrist injury, the Pirates barely held on, as the Red Lions ran rampant, getting out and running in the face of the LPU zone, amassing 15 fastbreak points and 24 turnover points. Triples, mostly from reserve Dexter Zamora, allowed Lyceum to prevent things from escalating into a full-on rout, they shot 11 of 21 from downtown, but in the end, they still lost by 20, 89-69. (Recap here)

What's at Stake:

• The 13-2 San Beda Red Lions will look to keep winning in order to stay ahead of the idle 12-3 Letran Knights in the battle for the second seed and the twice-to-beat advantage that comes with it. 
• With the 7-10 Mapua Cardinals falling in an upset to Arellano, the 6-9 Lyceum Pirates still have a an outside shot at the last Final Four berth, but they'll need to sweep their remaining games to make it happen. Toppling the Red Lions would go along way to helping them out. 

LPU Stat to Watch : Lyceum's first round encounter versus San Beda was one of the four times this season the Red Lions were unable to get to the line more than the other team, as the Pirates drew three more attempts than their opponents, 20 to 17. If the smaller Pirates get into attack mode, draw fouls from the bigger frontcourt players sending them to the bench, and prevent them from getting up in transition, they may have a slight chance of pulling off an upset.
LPU Player to Watch : Shane Ko's averages of 7.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists are not out of this world, but he's a better ball handler and is less likely to panic when the pressure defense comes. What's clear is that they cannot notch 28 turnovers again, and Ko can definitely help keep that number down.

SBC Stat to Watch : The Red Lions took full advantage of the lack of the Lyceum starting point guard, forcing them into a San Beda record for the season, 28 turnovers. Along with fastbreak points, those are two areas head coach Frankie Lim will likely concentrate on, to allow the Lions to get easy scores before Lyceum's zone sets up.
SBC Player to Watch : Dave Marcelo has a nice two-game double-digit scoring streak going on, and the common thread between Arellano, CSB and Lyceum is that they lack the combination of height and strength to stop Marcelo and company from rampaging through the paint. Thus, it looks like Marcelo will be in for another big game when these two sides play.

Prediction: SBC Red Lions