MAPUA moved on the cusp of ending its three decade-long NCAA title drought with an 84-73 dominant win over College of St. Benilde Sunday in Game 1 of the Season 100 men's basketball finals.
Clint Escamis, the reigning league MVP, played like a man possessed and scored 22 of his 30 points in a fiery first half shooting to set the tempo of the contest and carry the Cardinals on his shoulders.
Title-hungry Mapua will go for the kill in Saturday's Game 2, as it seeks to regain the men's championship after 33 long years or since 1991 when the school scored its first and only back-to-back title quest.
The 30-point game of Escamis is the first in the NCAA finals in the post-pandemic, while helping extend the Cardinals' winning streak to 11 games overall, including a nine-game sweep of the elimination second round
"Masarap sa pakiramdam na nanalo, pero sabi nga ni Kobe (Bryant), job's not yet finished," said Escamis following the game before a jampacked crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The transferee from University of the East came out firing on all cylinders right from the get-go and already had 17 points by the time the first 10 minutes was over for a 26-20 Mapua lead.
Serenaded by the Mapua crowd with chants of MVP! MVP! Escamis had half of the Cardinals' total output by halftime, 42-37.
He went on and shot 57 percent from the field (12-of-21), added four assists, and had five of the team's total of 19 steals.
Coming off a career-game 33 points in Mapua's 89-79 win over Lyceum in the Final Four, Escamis could have scored more, but went down with cramps in the final two minutes that prompted coach Randy Alcantara to take him out of the game for good.
The second seeded Blazers got a double-double from consensus season MVP Allen Liwag with 18 points and 14 rebounds, but couldn't get over the hump as the Cardinals had a ready answer for every Benilde scoring run.
By the time Escamis cooled down, the other Mapua players like JC Recto, Chris Hubilla, and Lawrence Mangubat took over the scoring load to finish off the sluggish Blazers.
Recto was 5-of-8 from the field for 15 points, Hubilla fell short of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds, while Mangubat built his eight-point total behind a 2-of-4 shooting from three-point range.
St. Benilde, which only led 2-0, had its final stand at the final, 74-67, before Recto and Yam Concepcion canned crucial free throws going home to complete the win for the Cardinals, runner up to the San Beda Red Lions a year ago after back-to-back losess in Games 2 and 3, respectively.
The scores
Mapua (84) -- Escamis 30, Recto 15, Hubilla 9, Mangubat 8, Jabonete 8, Cuenco 4, Concepcion 4, Bancale 3, Igliane 3, Ryan 0, Abdulla 0.
St. Benilde (73) -- Liwag 18, Cometa 13, Ancheta 10, Sangco 9, Sanchez 9, Ynot 7, Oli 3, Torres 2, Eusebio 2, Morales 0.
Quarterscores: 26-20; 42-37; 57-48; 84-73.
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