CLINT Escamis was held to single digits in scoring once more in Mapua’s 70-49 win over San Sebastian on Sunday at the Playtime Filoil Center.
Escamis was limited to just four points on 1-of-6 shooting though he did have five rebounds, seven assists and two steals as the Cardinals got back to winning ways after their shock loss to the Perpetual Altas on Wednesday.
READ: Mapua gets back to winning ways with rout of San Sebastian
It was Escamis’ third single-digit outing in four games for the Cardinals – with his 29-point explosion against Arellano his lone high-scoring game so far.
But his head coach Randy Alcantara isn’t worried one bit.
“Nakita naman natin, nagfacilitate siya, nagrurun ng plays at hinahanap yung mas libreng mga kakampi niya,” Alcantara said after the Cardinals improved to 3-1 in the NCAA Season 101.
The soft-spoken head coach believes that Escamis’ value goes beyond his numbers on the stat sheet.
It’s felt with how he rallies his team forward, something that the graduating guard has been doing in the early goings of the season.
“Yung maturity and yung leadership yun ang kailangan namin sa kanya sa season na’to,” Alcantara said.
“Di namin kailangan yung 30 points, 20 points si Escamis. Ang kailangan ko yung leadership talaga.”
For the season, Escamis is averaging 11.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and two steals.
It’s certainly a long way off from his averages last season where he posted 15.4 points with four assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.9 steals and his MVP year in Season 99 where he averaged 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 3.7 steals.
But that’s trivial for Alcantara.
For as long as they’re winning, and Escamis continues to embrace his leadership role, then he doesn’t have a problem with it.
“Wala na siyang kailangan patunayan diba. Nag MVP na siya, kailangan nalang niya maipakita na mas maging all-around player,” he said.
“Ito na siguro yung pinaghahandaan niya going to the professional league. Kami naman happy kami, alam naman niya kung anong role niya sa team, pwede siya tumira, pwede siya pumasa, and yung steals at rebounding nasa sistema na ni Clint.”
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