By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Mapua Cardinals moved one win away from capturing the NCAA Season 99 men’s basketball tournament championship trophy after outdueling the San Beda Red Lions, 68-63, in Game 1 last December 6, 2023, held at the Mall of Asia Arena.
After trailing early in the first half, the Cardinals banked on an 11-2 closing offensive run in the second quarter and completely took over the game.
Superstar Clint Escamis broke out in his NCAA finals debut and led Mapua with a game-high 18-point performance alongside six rebounds, three steals, and two assists.
Escamis was quiet in the opening quarter but suddenly broke out of his shell in the second frame that helped Mapua retake the advantage heading into the second half.
Things then went Mapua’s way for the majority of the game and ballooned its largest cushion to as much as 16 points midway through the third quarter.
Just when the Cardinals thought they could dominate their way in a one-sided fashion, the Red Lions made sure they’d enter crunch time with a fight and clawed back after their bench scoring woke them up.
From a double-digit deficit, the Red Lions came close to within three points courtesy of the efforts of James Payosing and Jacob Cortez who knocked down big shot after big shot in the final five minutes of Game 1.
With 27 seconds left in the ball game and San Beda with the chance to tie with a three-pointer, 66-63, the Red Lions were pretty much in the game but a fumbled trifecta from Cortez cost them the win.
Peter Rosillo backstopped Escamis for the Cardinals and dropped 15 big points including seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Meanwhile, Payosing rose to the occasion in a losing effort for San Beda and finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds but main man Cortez was limited to 12 markers on a dismal 3/17 shooting from the field.
The Cardinals will look to finish the NCAA championship series on December 10, 2023, and end Mapua’s 32-year title drought.
