CJ Perez flashes MVP form in Pirates romp

 

MANILA, Philippines – CJ Perez flashed yet another masterful performance as Lyceum routed Perpetual Help, 91-77, in the NCAA Season 94 men’s basketball tournament at the FilOil Flying V Centre on Friday, August 3.

Perez, the reigning Most Valuable Player, dropped 26 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals to power the unbeaten Pirates to their 6th straight victory.

Jaycee Marcelino also played finisher anew with 20 points off the bench, 18 coming in the second half.

“More than the 6th win, it’s really just more of how these guys were really committed to playing to our best potential,” Lyceum coach Topex Robinson said in the post-game presser.

“The challenge was there. We know that Perpetual is really playing excellent basketball prior to our game so we just kept our composure.”

Perpetual opened the 4th quarter with a 6-0 fastbreak run to close the gap to 3, 65-68. But Marcelino, last season’s Rookie of the Year, negated all that with 7 straight quick points for a 75-67 Lyceum lead.

Everything went south from there for the Altas as the Pirates sailed away for yet another easy win –their 24th straight elimination round triumph since last year.

As usual, Prince Eze was the Altas anchor with a 20-point, 18-rebound, 2-block outing in the loss. Jelo Razon chipped in 19 markers with 5 boards and 2 steals.

Buzzer-beaters highlighted the match as players from both sides beat the horn after every single quarter.

First, it was the Altas’ Razon beating the first-quarter buzzer with a wild 3-ball from his own inbound off a bounce pass on the back of an unsuspecting Jaycee Marcelino.

Then, Perez drained his own buzzer-beating triple off a dump pass from Reymar Caduyac,  punctuating a 24-8 run to close the first half with Lyceum up by 10, 48-38.

And finally, Perez’s partner-in-crime Mike Nzeusseu created a highlight of his own with a fallaway mid-range jumper to end the 3rd with a 9-point advantage, 68-59, heading into the final frame.

 

The Scores

LPU (91) – Perez 26, JC. Marcelino 20, Pretta 9, Caduyac 8, Ayaay 6, Santos 6, JV. Marcelino 4, Nzeusseu 4, Tansingco 4, Ibanez 2, Valdez 2, Serrano 0, Yong 0

Perpetual (77) – Eze 20, Razon 19, Charcos 16, Aurin 12, Peralta 7, Mangalino 3, Coronel 0, Cuevas 0, Pasia 0

Quarter scores: 21-18, 48-38, 68-59, 91-77

 

STANDINGS 

LPU 6-0

SBU 4-0

CSJL 3-1

AU 2-2

UPHSD 2-2

CSB 2-3

MU 2-3

SSC-R 2-4

EAC 1-4

JRU 0-5

– Rappler.com