WITH coach Topex Robinson back on the bench, the Lyceum Pirates will battle the Mapua Cardinals at 2 p.m., today as they go for a ninth straight win that will allow them to sweep the first round.
Assistant coach Jeff Perlas noted that team’s deep lineup is finally showing in the 93rd National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament.
“Nakikita na iyung depth ng bench namin,” said Perlas after the Pirates downed the Letran Knights, 75-68, last Friday at the Arena in San Juan.
The Cardinals are currently in the cellar with a 1-6 (win-loss) record.
Robinson will be back from a one-game suspension following his ejection from their 97-93 win over Emilio Aguinaldo College at the EAC Gym last Aug. 10.
For him, a sweep is not yet something the team is discussing.
“Honestly, we didn’t discuss about a potential sweep but rather we want to be a better version of ourselves from our Letran game,” said Robinson.
LPU will again showcase its league-best offense as it averages 89.4 points a game, by far the highest as the second highest scoring team is Letran with a 75.3-point norm.
CJ Perez is at the forefront of the Pirates’ attack, with an average of 18.6 points a game in an offense that also norms 15.5 off fast breaks and another 20.6 off turnovers.
In the junior division, the Mapua Red Robins take on the Lyceum Junior Pirates at 10, and will seek their seventh win in eight games.
Later, Perpetual Help and EAC, who are at joint sixth spot with 3-5 marks, for their part, aim for a fourth win as the two take on each other at 4 p.m.
Skidding Arellano (2-5) and St. Benilde (2-6) face off at 12 noon with both teams hoping to breathe some life into their dying Final Four hopes.