NCAA: Lyceum coach lauds John Barba, defense in win over Perpetual

High school coach Gilbert Malabanan. NCAA PICTURES

MANILA, Philippines—Lyceum turned to one of their sweet shooters in their narrow win over Perpetual Help on Saturday, but coach Gilbert Malabanan stressed the importance of playing well at the other end of the court.

John Barba scored a career high for the Pirates with 20 points on four field goals from the three-point area, but Malabanan remains determined to improve on the defensive end.

“Barba can score a lot of points but we don’t stop there. We can’t just score, we have to work on our defense. The good thing is if he can’t defend he will score,” Malabanan told the San Juan Arena after their 86-82 win over the Altas that ended a two-game losing streak.

The Pirates recorded eight steals and five blocks as a team and also forced Perpetual Help to 16 turnovers.

Lyceum also made the necessary saves, including forcing to miss a potential hat-trick from Jielo Razon.

Barba said his offensive contributions were just a bonus as he focused on what he could do to make a defensive impact.

“I just did my part to help because every game I think about the team. It’s just a bonus that I got 20 points,” he said.

“Lyceum is known for defending so our coach always tells us to defend, there are no days off in defence,” he said.

Apart from the Lyceum defence, Malabanan also praised his side’s ball movement, with the Pirates finishing with 24 assists.

“The good thing in today’s game is our 24 assists, 24 assists is too much for us. We had 16 assists in the first half and that already equals one game and I think that’s also what made us win.

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