THEY say trust is a two-way street, and reigning NCAA MVP Clint Escamis knows that it takes a whole lot of faith within Mapua to win the big one in the Grand Ol’ League’s centennial season.
That was most evident in the Cardinals’ 84-73 win over the CSB Blazers in the opener of their best-of-three championship series in the NCAA Season 100 last Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Cardinals fed Escamis each chance they got and the brilliant two-way guard started finding his groove early,dropping 17 of his game high 30 points in the first 10 minutes of the game to set the tone for the title-hungry squad from Intramuros.
READ: Red-hot Escamis shoots Mapua over Benilde in Game One
“It just came naturally talaga. When I was hitting my shots nung mga una pa lang, sabi ko okay ah, naging more aggressive talaga ako,” said Escamis after a fitting follow-up to his 33 point explosion in the semifinals versus Lyceum.
“Mas lalong tumaas yung confidence ko since I was coming from a career high nung semis,” he added. “Dinala ko lang yung tamang mentality, yung tamang preparation in this game, so ayun ang result.”
And as the 24-year-old limped to the finish as he battled cramps in the final 10 minutes of the game, he had enough trust in his teammates to take it home for him – and they did.
JC Recto, John Jabonete, and Lawrence Mangubat all had their moments at crunch time to allow the Cardinals to finish strong with their star player resting on the bench in the final moments of the game.
“Nung una nagtiwala sila sa 'kin nung first quarter, binibigyan talaga nila ako at nung huli nagtiwala talaga ako sa kanila to take it home for us,” he said.
“Malaking bagay yung teammates ko, hindi lang naman ako yung Mapua, lahat kailangan mag-contribute talaga.”
This is why Escamis is more confident that they can finally end their 33-year title drought in the NCAA this time around after being in a similar situation against San Beda last year – winning the first game only to drop the next two.
They already know what it’s like to let a title opportunity slip away from their hands and he expects it to be different this time around.
“[The difference is] the level of maturity and the level of composure that this team has,” Escamis said.
“Anything can happen, but we’re gonna be prepared with whatever comes this Saturday. We’re not gonna celebrate until the final buzzer.”
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