Cardinals eliminate Heavy Bombers in Final Four race

Clint Escamis delivered in the crunch as Mapua eliminated Jose Rizal University from the Final Four race with a 77-74 victory in the NCAA Season 99 men’s basketball tournament at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City on Wednesday, Nov. 22.

The MVP candidate was a force to reckon with by pumping in 25 points spiked by five triples while hauling four rebounds and dishing off five steals and five assists as the Cardinals finished the eliminations on top of the standings with a 15-3 win-loss record.

It was Mapua’s sixth straight victory, giving them enough boost heading to the critical next phase.

“Sila na lang team na hindi namin natatalo this season, yun motivation namin,” said Escamis, referring to their 70-61 defeat to JRU in the first round last Oct. 1.

Mapua head coach Randy Alcantara, meanwhile, lauded his wards’ ball movement, which improved over the past games.

“Yun nga team-effort, yung talagang lahat [gumagawa eh], di mo naman talaga titignan lang sa umiiscore,” Alcantara said.

“Talagang ginampanan nila ‘yong role nila sa team,” he added.

Warren Bonifacio also steered the Cardinals with impressive numbers, chalking up 17 points and five boards.

Mapua will clash with fourth seed College of St. Benilde (11-7) on Tuesday, Nov. 28, with a twice-to-beat trump card.

No. 2 Lyceum of the Philippines (13-5) tackles San Beda, which has an 11-6 slate but has already booked the No. 3 seed regardless of the result of its duel with bitter rival Letran on Friday, Nov. 24.