MANILA, Philippines – A huge rumble has ensued below the top two spots in the NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball tournament as Lyceum and Arellano continued to make great strides in their roads to the Final Four, eliminating both San Sebastian and JRU on Tuesday, November 5. The Pirates fashioned out a 93-85 win over the ever-gutsy yet reeling Stags to climb to a 7-8 record at the FilOil EcoOil Centre, while the Chiefs escaped the Heavy Bombers, 81-77. Although San Sebastian and JRU are still technically in the Final Four race with identical 4-11 slates, one of three teams with seven wins — EAC, Letran, and Lyceum — only needs one more win to put the top four out of reach from the Stags and Heavy Bombers.
Elimination is inevitable for the league’s bottom two as an eighth win is already assured with EAC and Lyceum set to battle next Tuesday, November 12. Renz Villegas led Lyceum in win No. 7 with 25 points on a stellar 9-of-11 clip, while John Barba backstopped with 20 points while Lyceum still awaits the return of injured star player JM Bravo.
Tristan Felebrico paced another sorry loss with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals, while star guard Paeng Are was limited to a 14-minute appearance off the bench while still pumping out 12 points and 4 dimes. Meanwhile, Arellano kept its own playoff bid alive by a thread with a thrilling 81-77 escape of JRU to rise to a 6-9 record, tied in seventh with Perpetual. Basti Valencia pulled out all the stops with a full l.
