Pirates shoot down Cardinals

MANILA, Philippines -- The Lyceum Pirates used a furious third quarter run as they held on to defeat the Mapua Cardinals, 86-82, in their NCAA Season 99 hoops clash Friday afternoon at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

Lyceum is now sharing the top spot with Mapua in the NCAA men's basketball competition.

With the game tied at 40 with 1:56 remaining in the first half, Lyceum finished the quarter with eight straight points to take a 48-40 lead heading into the half.

The hot run continued as the Pirates unleashed a 13-2 run in the third quarter, as their lead ballooned to 19, 61-42, with 6:44 remaining in the canto.

It looked like the Pirates would breeze through to the end, but the Cardinals stormed back in the final quarter.

They cut the lead to just three, 82-85, with 27 seconds remaining after a 3-pointer by Clint Escamis.

A split from the free throw line from Alvin Penafiel gave Lyceum a much-needed four-point spread that put the game out of reach.

Paolo Hernandez missed a 3-pointer as time expired.

Patrick Montano had 18 points for the Pirates. He was followed by bruising big man Shawn Umali with 17 markers.

Escamis finished with 25 points for Mapua.

Jopet Soriano and Marc Cuenco chipped in 13 and 11 points, respectively.

With the win, both teams are now holding a 9-3 win-loss slate heading into the final stretch of games in the tournament.