Cautious Pirates

LARRY Muyang (left) and Letran College will try to stop Jaycee Marcelino and Lyceum of the Philippines University. DAVID JOHN CUBANGBANG

Marching with a sense of complacency will be the last thing on the mind of Lyceum of the Philippines University when it battles Letran College in the stepladder phase of Season 95 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament today at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Game time is at 4 p.m. with the Pirates in search of a victory to book a rematch with unbeaten San Beda College in the best-of-three finals series of the country’s oldest collegiate basketball tourney.

The Pirates would be coming in with massive advantage.

They beat the Knights twice in the preliminaries — 84-80 in the first round and 97-90 in the second round — and emerged with a higher standing, 13-5, at the end of the double-round eliminations to cop the second seed in the stepladder.

The Knights, for their part, trekked a harder route to get here.

After finishing third in the eliminations with a 12-6 win-loss mark, they flirted with disaster before overcoming gritty San Sebastian College, 85-80, to move one win away from the finals.

Lyceum also beat Letran in the Final Four last year, giving it all the advantages in what looms to be a dramatic and emotional battle between two of the league’s elite teams.

Still, Lyceum head coach Topex Robinson refuses to be complacent.

“Coming off the season, Letran is the better team than us. But I chose to put my energy on what my team will do. We keep on learning from our mistakes to get better as a team,” said Robinson, who steered the Pirates to an 18-0 sweep of the elimination only to fall prey to a hungry Red Lions squad in the finals in 2017.

Robinson added that Letran would not simply roll over and die.

He said the Knights are a glorious team with a rich championship tradition, making them a tough nut to crack.

Letran coach Bonnie Tan is also the best in the business when it comes to pre-game preparation while the core of Jerrick Balanza, Larry Muyang, Renato Ular and Bonbon Batiller are all ripe to make a serious run for the crown.

“Letran is a well-oiled and well-coached team,” he said, adding that they would put premium more on their team plays rather than individual talents.

“But as far as we are concerned, our team is a cohesive group of individuals, and we need every player’s contribution in facing a strong team like them.”

In fact, they managed to shut down San Sebastian top gun Allyn Bulanadi until RK Ilagan caught fire and erupted for 36 points. Fortunately, they were able to weather that explosion en route to punching a ticket to the next round.

“We try to perfect our plays and the boys are responding very well, they are healthy mentally and physically,” said Tan, the team manager of NorthPort in the Philippine Basketball Association who is on his first season as Knights’ head coach.

“We will do our best. It’s a big challenge for my team. I hope we can pull it through because it’s just one game.”

Star playmaker Jaycee Marcelino and Cameroonian center Mike Nzuesseu will banner the Pirates in a bid to stop Balanza, Muyang, Batiller Jeo, Ambohot and the rest of the Knights.