JAMAL Diaz made San Beda pay for every opening it gave Mapua down the stretch.
With the defending champions clinging to a five-point lead with under two minutes left, the rookie guard took over and buried two tough, long threes to turn the game around and hand the Cardinals a stunning 55-54 win over the Red Lions on Monday.
San Beda head coach Yuri Escueta could only tip his hat to the Mapua guard for coming through when it mattered most.
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“We have to give it to Jamal. He made two tough, long threes. I think there’s no other way we could have defended that,” Escueta said.
“Hats off to him for making those two threes at the end.”
But while Diaz’s late-game heroics decided the outcome, Escueta also pointed to San Beda’s own missed opportunities that could have prevented the Cardinals from completing the comeback.
After free throws proved costly for Mapua in its three tightly contested losses to start the season, it was the Red Lions’ turn to struggle from the charity stripe in the closing minutes.
Lawrence Hawkins missed his bonus free throw, while Aldous Torculas split his freebies that could have sent the match to a three possession ball game.
“It’s just that on our side, yung free throws namin. At yung one of the threes na na-shot ni Jamal coming from offensive rebound,” Escueta stressed.
“So if we could have gotten that rebound or made that one free throw or two free throws, Hawk missed one, Aldous missed one at the end. But the game could have been over.”
Instead, San Beda let a winnable game slip away despite controlling much of the second half, with Mapua suddenly catching fire from deep down the stretch.
The Cardinals knocked down 7-of-8 from deep in the final period after struggling to find their range through the first three quarters.
“Lots of things that didn’t go our way during the fourth quarter. And again, I was saying, we have to give it to Mapua,” said Escueta.
“They made seven out of eight threes, which they weren’t hitting in the first three quarters.”
Still, the defending champions’ coach refused to dwell on the painful finish as San Beda dropped to 2-2 in Group A.
“Wala naman na overthinking,” he said.
“He made tough shots, we missed free throws, we couldn’t get offensive. One rebound at the end.”
It could have also been a big game for veteran RC Calimag, who almost had a perfect shooting afternoon with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field, along with three rebounds and two steals.
But for Escueta, there was little value in looking too far ahead after the gut-wrenching loss, especially with San Beda set to face teams from the other pool.
“It is going to be a long season,” he said.
“Whether we win or we lose, we have to just keep staying positive. One game at a time. Whatever happens.”
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