One Day Later: EAC vs JRU, LPU vs CSB

JRU 90 - EAC 77
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Player of the Game : Big man John Lopez padded the stat sheet to the tune of 17 points, five rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal, with 13 of those points coming in the second half, when the Heavy Bombers pulled away.

By the Numbers :

• The big story of course is the turnover points category, as JRU turned up the intensity of their press to come back from a 10-point deficit. In the first half, they had 14 points from 10 EAC miscues, numbers that bloated to 22, off 13 turnovers in the latter part of the game.
• EAC tried to compensate by getting to the line, off the physical JRU defense. They shot 20 of 28 from the stripe, above and beyond JRU's 9 of 16 clip, but it still wasn't enough.
• The Bombers matched a season-high with 22 assists in the game.

The Other Names : 

• Milan Vargas notched his season-high in the loss, with 20 points on 6 of 9 shooting, 8 of 10 from the stripe. He also finished with four assists to four turnovers. 
• JRU's shooters were on the mark today, as they have been for the latter part of the season. John Villarias, Nate Matute and Raycon Kabigting were a combined 5 of 10 from downtown. The team as a whole shot 18.25 percent in round one, a figure that has crept up to 31.1 percent since.

LPU 94 - CSB 89
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Player of the Game : Floricel Guevarra scored a season-high 27 points in exactly 27 minutes off the bench, while also adding eight rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block in the process. Guevarra took up the scoring cudgels from an ice-cold Chris Cayabyab and delivered, with 16 points in the last 15 minutes of the game.

By the Numbers :

• From the opening tip, the Pirates resolved to be the more aggressive team, attacking the rim to get to the line early and often. They finished with a 52 to 31 advantage in foul shots, a disparity that became more pronounced when you factor in that Lyceum made 73 percent or 38 of those freebies, while CSB converted only 18 or 58 percent. 
• Despite said edge, the game was still back and forth from start to finish, with 15 deadlocks and 17 lead changes. The biggest lead of the game was just six, held twice by Lyceum at the start of the fourth and overtime.

The Other Names :

• Both Michael Pate and Carlo Lastimosa turned in flawed performances, missing out on opportunities to win the game. The two were a combined 1 for 12 from outside the arc, and the Pirates were well aware of it, giving up the outside shot, especially to Pate, numerous times. Lastimosa also managed just splits at the foul line in the fourth, and in OT. Two made shots at the former could have put the game away, as it would have formed a two-shot advantage, while the latter would have made the deficit just two points instead of three. 
• Jan Tan managed a 12-12 performance, but was limited to only 24 minutes due to a combination of foul trouble, and a desire by head coach Richard Del Rosario to match up with the tiny Pirates. 

NCAA Picking Record: 64-23-3