Pirates break out of losing skid

THE LYCEUM Pirates stopped their four-game losing streak at the expense of the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, 77-73 in the 87th NCAA basketball tournament yesterday at the Arena

Things appeared bleak for Lyceum as EAC extended their lead to nine, 62-53, courtesy of triples by Jolas Paguia and Franz Chiong, with 6:26 left in the fourth quarter. But the Pirates engineered a comeback that eventually gave them the lead, 70-68.

Things stayed deadlocked at 70-all until Gian Mallari nailed his first and only triple of the game in eight attempts at the 46.7 second mark of the fourth quarter. A spin move by Milan Vargas was off its mark, and on the other end, Jolas Paguia expended his final foul to put Vence Laude at the line. With 25 seconds left, Laude made both, putting the game out of reach./Correspondent Jonas Panerio