ARELLANO coach Chico Manabat bared that prior to the season, all he wanted was a shot at that coveted twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals.
Wish granted.
The Chiefs stayed in the hunt for a twice-to-beat spot in Group A of the NCAA Season 101 after routing the play-in bound Lyceum Pirates 74-56 on Wednesday at the Playtime Filoil Center in San Juan.
Maverick Vinoya sparked the Chiefs’ first quarter breakaway, outsourcing the entire Pirates by firing 10 markers as Arellano took a 26-8 lead, a lead it never relinquished enroute to the breezy wire-to-wire win.
T-Mc Ongotan then made sure there won’t be any comebacks as he did most of his damage in the second half as the Chiefs won their third game in a row to improve to 6-6 and get a shot at a twice-to-beat spot by beating the Mapua Cardinals (7-5) this Friday by at least four points.
"Sinabi namin sa kanila for the last three games namin kung anong kaya niyo ibigay sa team ibigay niyo na. Pag pinasok kayo doon, talagang gampanan niyo yung tiwala and then yung role niyo. Okay naman yung mga bata, nakakatuwa," Manabat said as he now turns his attention to that huge match against Mapua this Friday.
“Unang una kailangan muna mag-pahinga. Usap kami and then yung mental nila ng pinakaimportante, pisikal, ready yan lahat. Balik kami ulit sa drawing board and the preparation yun ang pinakaimportante."
Ongotan once again led the way for Arellano as he finished with a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds while adding three assists and two blocks for another impressive performance across the board. Vinoya added 14 points and three steals.
Ato Barba led the 3-9 Pirates with 13 markers, as they will now be facing San Sebastian in the play-in for fourth place.
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