UE overcomes shaky start, nips Lyceum

MANILA, Philippines – University of the East bucked a slow start and subdued a gritty Lyceum University side with an 82-72 victory in the Filoil Flying V Premier Cup at the Arena in San Juan City Wednesday.

After a nip and tuck affair for most of the game, UE unleashed a monstrous 22-2 blast bridging the third and fourth quarters, turning a nine-point deficit into a 61-50 margin courtesy of a Charles Mammie putback.

UE coach Boyzie Zamar said everything is still a work in progress.

“We have to understand that yung mga tinatanim namin hindi agad magbubunga. Kumbaga we are still sowing the seeds,” said Zamar.

“These kinds of wins are what characterize an ugly victory but we’ll take it as it is. We need to have tough games for our preparation,” he added.

Roy Sumang topscored for the Warriors with 19 points while Mammie powered his way to a double-double output with 14 points 15 rebounds. Jay-ar Sumido chipped in 12 points.

The Warriors struggled to find their rhythm against the winless Pirates early in the game before finding their niche in the second half.

“I have to take it as [both] a good and a bad sign – that we can come back from large deficits but we can’t keep playing this way especially against top level teams,” said Zamar.

Mark Francisco paced the Pirates with 14 points while Shane Ko and Dexter Zamora added 11 and 10 markers, respectively.

UE improved to 5-2 (win-loss) while LPU remained winless in five starts.