MANILA — Lyceum of the Philippines went over their fellow Intramuros-based squad to go perfect in two games.

The Pirates escaped a thriller against Colegio de San Juan de Letran, 70-69, earlier today at the NCAA Season 99 Men’s Basketball Tournament at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

Shawn Umali and Enoch Valdez starred for LPU against their former school, with the former Letran Squires delivering 15 and 10 points, respectively.

But it was John Barba’s nine points, two of which came off as the game-winning bucket, that allowed Lyceum to defeat the Season 98 finalists, as they were also successful in defeating College of St. Benilde during last Sunday’s opening festivities.

Down 68-69, Lyceum’s tight defense went to work against Letran, and this led to a fastbreak by Barba to overtake their Final Four tormentors during last year’s games.

The Rensy Bajar-led squad had one more chance to reclaim the lead and get the victory, but Kobe Monje’s shot missed the rim and this resulted in them posting their second defeat in as many games.

Kurt Reyson delivered 17 markers for the Knights, and Monje and Pao Javillonar followed with 13, and 10, respectively.

Lyceum will try to gun for their third victory on Saturday when they face University of Perpetual Help System DALTA at 3:00 PM, while Letran is hoping to finally crack the win column when they face Emilio Aguinaldo College on Sunday at 10:00 AM.

The Scores:

Lyceum 70 - Umali 15, Valdez 10, Barba 9, Montano 7, Penafiel 7, Omandac 7, Villegas 5, Aviles 4, Bravo 4, Cunanan 2, Gaudana 0, Culanay 0, Moralejo 0, Versoza 0

Letran 69 - Reyson 17, Monje 13, Javillonar 10, Santos 8, Go 7, Ariar 6, Cuajao 4, Galvez 3, Tolentino 1, Guarino 0, Batallier 0, Fajardo 0

Quarter Scores: 21-18, 36-35, 52-51, 70-69