BY ABBY TORALBA
JOSE Rizal University succeeded in overtime where it failed in regulation against a suddenly skidding Lyceum side last night.
The Heavy Bombers leaned on rarely used Jonathan Medina in the most crucial time to hold off the Pirates 88-87 in double OT and get back on track in the 99th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.
Medina hit a wild shot after picking up the loose ball in the dying seconds, while Lyceum couldn’t find the mark on their last two tries as the Bombers notched their fifth win against three losses.
The Pirates rallied from six points down with less than a minute to go in regulation to force the first extension but couldn’t get the job done in the two extra periods and fell to their third loss in row after going 6-0 to begin the season.
Joshua Guiab scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds for JRU, while Agem Miranda and Marwin Dionisio added 14 markers each.
In the first game, Jomel Puno sank a clutch three pointer to lift San Beda University to a come-from-behind 62-60 escape over Perpetual Help for its second straight win.
Puno came up big for the Red Lions with 12 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, while Peter Alfaro and Nygel Gonzales combined for 17 markers.
The win allowed San Beda to raise its slate to 5-2 as coach Yuri Escueta returned after serving a one-game suspension last week.
“It’s just the way we started the ballgame na medyo we started flat, and we let them dictate the tempo and the physicality. But in the second half, nagising sila noong halftime,” Escueta said.
“I liked how we picked up defensively, especially during the last two minutes ng third quarter, they really helped one another to make stops lalo na noong fourth. Defense tala iyong nagpahabol at nagpalamang sa amin,” he added.
Cyrus Nitura paced Perpetual, which dropped to 3-5, with 15 points, while Christian Pagaran and Art Roque got 14 and 10 markers, respectively.
Enoch Valdez posted a double-double of 24 markers and 14 rebounds, while John Bravo had 20 and 10.
