Flores powers Chiefs past Pirates

MANILA, Philippines —  Fil-Aussie Cade Flores muscled his way to 23 points and 12 rebounds and powered the Arellano U Chiefs to a 77-63 win over the Lyceum U Pirates yesterday in NCAA Season 98 at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

With the win, AU stayed in the Final Four race with a 5-6 record.

In the other game, College of St. Benilde rode on Will Gozum’s career-best 34-point performance as it repulsed a rusty Jose Rizal U, 92-79, to keep its grip of the solo lead with a 9-2 record.

The Bombers, who played their first game after 18 days due to health and safety protocols, dropped to 5-3.

“We just want to get out of that losing rut,” said Flores.

“We had a lot of defensive changes and training before this game working on the press break because they (LPU) are great in pressing teams,” he said.

“It feels good but you want to keep this run going,” he added.

AU coach Cholo Martin, however, stressed Flores couldn’t do it alone.

Good thing Flores got help from Axel Doromal, who scattered 18 points on top of five rebounds and the same number of dimes.

“We can’t win if Cade is the only one doing the work. We have to have everyone on the same page,” said Martin.

The Pirates slipped to 8-4.