Dennis Laconsay and Mark Joel Joson struck hardest in the crunch and Manila Central University (MCU) handed three-peat seeking Centro Escolar University (CEU) its third straight loss, 73-68, in the UCAL-PGFlex Linoleum 7th Season men’s basketball event on Monday at the Paco Arena in Manila.

After Laconsay pulled the Supremos to within 68-67 with two free throws, Joson made the biggest basket of the game, burying his second triple with barely 37 ticks left to regain the lead, 70-68.

Seanne Devon General split his charities off Dylan Darbin’s foul in the next play but it proved enough to take the fight out of the Scorpions.

Meanwhile, University of Batangas (UB) streaked to its fourth straight after dropping its opening game by downing erstwhile undefeated Olivarez College, 83-75.

John Paul Mendy led three other UB players in double figures with 22 points while James Torrato added 14 points as the Brahmans surged on top of the 10-team tournament.

Ryan Briones and Dhave Lalap tallied identical 13 points each as UB continued to show its depth and massive firepower.

Laconsay led MCU with 18 points and 8 rebounds while Joson and Rapael Perhis chipping in 16 and 14 points, respectively, with the former adding four boards and two assists.

The win enabled MCU to improve its record to 3-1.

The heroics of Laconsay and Joson negated the 26-point performance of Darbin, who is regarded as one of the league’s prolific scorers.