One Day Later: EAC vs SBC, MIT vs LPU

The beatdown - EAC could not stop San Beda, even if their lives depended on it (pic source)

SBC 118 - EAC 64
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Player of the Game : Most of Garvo Lanete's points came in the fourth quarter, when they were already up by a huge margin. Instead, I'm going with the two shooters that helped build the huge first quarter lead: Rome Dela Rosa and Mar Villahermosa, each of whom dropped nine points in the games' first 10 minutes, helping erect a 30-16 lead.



EAC Positives :

• You got beaten by 54. You deserve no positives.

EAC Negatives :

• 27 turnovers basically says it all, as 17 of those came from their top three scorers, Milan Vargas, Franz Chiong and Remy Morada.
• While I understand that EAC was down early on, the Generals panicked and immediately went the route of chucking up three's to try to get back in the game. Given how San Beda was constantly in the penalty early because of their in-your-face defense, the EAC ought to have kept attacking the rim. When they did get to the line though, they only converted 61 percent of their charities. 
• Related to that, EAC's disease of one-on-one play continued, as they got just 13 assists, six of which came from Morada. 
• If Joshua Torralba and Igee King continue to miss games, this team is sunk. As much as I've criticized Torralba for his individualistic style of play, this team misses his talent. King was a nice stabilizing ball handler who would be a huge upgrade over the 10 minutes the team gets from Roy Villegas.

SBC Positives :

• San Beda's huge massacre was helped by a 61 percent field goal percentage and 30 assists.
• A dominant 36 to 8 fourth quarter certainly made it easier for them to pad the score as the Generals essentially ran out of gas in the third period. 
• The Red Lions made 6 of 18 triples, after two games of poor outside shooting, a necessary stat given how opponents zone them in each and every game.

SBC Negatives :

• Because San Beda's rotation basically mixes in everyone on their roster (Pontejos and Koga made appearances as early as the second quarter, for example), they didn't really have any third-stringers to turn the ball over to in the final period. That said, was it really necessary to get the score to 50? 

Josan's the man - with Nimes at the helm, the Cardinals have surged (pic source)

MIT 80 - LPU 59
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Player of the Game : Josan Nimes extended his streak of consecutive twenty-plus scoring games by dropping 20 on the Pirates. It was Nimes who actually set the tone for the Cardinals, dropping 12 in the first quarter to instantly demoralize Lyceum, giving them a huge mountain to climb.



MIT Positives :

• Mapua came out with a hot start, 29-14, and successfully defended it all the way, something they hadn't done with the exception of their first round meeting with EAC.
• For a change, the Cardinals used their inside-out game properly, getting 16 points and 10 rebounds from Yousef Taha, while at the same time, making 8 of their 19 triples. That's how they're supposed to play in each game.

MIT Negatives :

• Huge game for Mapua, as it finally moved them up in the standings to 4th place, after being as low as 10th in the first round. That said, it's an empty win, given how Lyceum had two suspended players, one ruled out because of sickness, and one playing with a flu. Had everyone been healthy for Lyceum and this could have been a different story.

LPU Positives :

• With Chris Cayabyab firing blanks and Floricel Guevarra suspended, the Pirates were lucky to find an alternative source of points in Vence Laude, who top-scored for them with 17 markers. 
• Despite having a huge size disadvantage, Lyceum managed to pluck down double the offensive rebounds of the Cardinals, 16 to 8, and as a result, got a 10-2 boost in second-chance points.

LPU Negatives :

• Amazingly, Lyceum got zero transition points and just three attempts. They could have sorely needed those scoring trips without the Mapua big men getting in their way.
• Allan Santos and Cayabyab were expected to lead the Lyceum charge, but they combined to shoot 4 of 23 from the field. Not exactly what you would want from your leaders.

NCAA Picking Record: 43-14-1