Mapua Cardinals guard Clint Escamis during an NCAA Final Four game against Lyceum. – NCAA PHOTO
This time the Mapua Cardinals want to do it right.
After turning down the challenge of the Lyceum Pirates, the Cardinals hope to avert a repeat of last year’s finals loss and take home the historic NCAA Season 100 crown.
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“Our goal is to rehabilitate ourselves after losing the championship last season. Now we’re here,” said reigning MVP Clint Escamis, who spoke from the outset of Mapua’s 89-79 win over Lyceum on Saturday.
Escamis scored a career-high 18 points in the first quarter and finished with a career-high 33 points, helping the Cardinals earn a spot in the best-of-three finals beginning Dec. 1.
Mapua also reached the final last season but were then chased down by the San Beda Red Lions.
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It would have been sweeter if the Cardinals took revenge on their tormentors, but that wasn’t to be.
St. Benilde, the strong team that was favored to win it all all season, dethroned San Beda midway through the semifinals, with MVP contender Allen Liwag taking the lead with a 79-63 victory at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay led.
“Hopefully we can be better prepared and ready for Mapua because if you saw Clint Escamis, he was really great today. “It’s another great performance from the MVP so we will find a way to stop him and Mapua,” said St. Benilde coach Charles Tiu.
Huge run
The 1.90 meter tall Liwag simply tolerated Jhomel Ancheta and Tony Ynot in the first quarter for the Blazers, who immediately went on a tremendous run and never looked back, ultimately denying last season’s champions another title win.
Ynot shined against his former school, posting 17 points as well as four assists, three rebounds, one block and one steal.
“We’re going to prepare against them (Cardinals) the same way we prepared against San Beda,” Liwag said after rallying to 20 points and eight rebounds.
The Cardinals were also the top seed after last season’s eliminations and defeated the Blazers in the Final Four before falling to the Lions.
Escamis is determined to change history this time, starting with the championship series opener at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We know there is a different atmosphere in the final and we have to be physically and mentally prepared against St. Benilde,” said Mapua coach Randy Alcantara, making his third championship appearance in four seasons.
Illuminated scoreboard
Chris Hubilla also shined for the Cardinals, scoring nine of his 17 points in the decisive fourth quarter to wipe out the Pirates’ slim lead.
Escamis made a splash with a brilliant start, taking advantage of the imbalance with point guard Renz Villegas and scoring 12 of his team’s first 14 points, laying the foundation for an early lead.
But the Pirates, behind stellar performances from JM Bravo, Mclaude Guadaña and Villegas, slowly erased the 15-point deficit and surged ahead in the third period, threatening to extend their semifinal playoff to the decider.
Hubilla then conspired with Escamis, Yam Concepcion and Cyrus Cuenco as they worked through Lyceum’s maze of mistakes and missed attempts at the free throw line.
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Trailing 81-75 with less than three minutes to play, Pirates captain Greg Cunanan missed three straight free throws, followed by another missed pair of free throws from Guadaña.