MANILA -- Enoch Valdez and the Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates caught a big fish in their very first game of the NCAA Season 99 tournament, pulling off an 85-81 come-from-behind win over De La Salle-College of St. Benilde (CSB) at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Valdez finished with 16 points and four rebounds in the win over last season's beaten finalists.

The Pangasinan native is finishing his last year of eligibility with the Pirates despite being drafted by the NLEX Road Warriors in the PBA Rookie Draft last week. He has already received a tender offer from the team, but they agreed to let him focus on Lyceum's campaign with Valdez determined to lead his team to a title.

• NCAA: Bravo stars as Lyceum frustrates Benilde

"May napag-usapan kami na after kong ma-draft, ayaw rin nila magkaroon ng problema," said Valdez. "So sinabi ko na kung pwede, tapusin ko na lang 'yung NCAA, kasi 'yun naman 'yung una."

"Nagkataon lang na nagkasabay 'yung Draft at saka 'yung NCAA. Naiintindihan naman nila ako. Nag-usap naman kamin ni Coach Frankie (Lim), sinu-support nila ako every game," he added. "Nanonood sila, last game ko kahapon nanood sila. Sobrang happy nila na nakikita nila ako na healthy."

Valdez regularly attends NLEX practices to get familiar with the team's system. The Road Warriors selected him with the sixth pick of the second round.

• LIST: The selections in the 2023 PBA Rookie Draft

The swingman said getting drafted had a positive impact not just on him but on the rest of the Lyceum team.

"I think sa mga teammates ko, mas sisipag sila ngayon. Kasi siyempre, biruin mo 'yung teammate mo, na-draft sa PBA. Hindi naman expected na second round, NLEX pa 'yung kumuha sa akin," he said. "So parang nakikita ko sa kanila, nagiging ano ako sa kanila, inspiration. Kaya ko, pero kaya din nila."

After getting their first win, the Pirates are setting their sights on defending champion Colegio de San Juan de Letran on Wednesday at the FilOil EcoOil Arena in San Juan.

For Valdez, the key component to going 2-0 in the tournament is to stop Letran captain Kurt Reyson.

"Si Reyson lang naman 'yung kailangan mo i-stop diyan. Si Reyson kasi, siya na 'yung parang puso … Once na-stop mo si Reyson, sobrang laki ng chance na manalo. So focus lang kay Reyson 'yung defense talaga," he added.