MVP Escamis powers Mapua past Perpetual, Lyceum barges past JRU in clutch 1st win

MANILA, Philippines – Clint Escamis showed his MVP chops in full force as the Mapua Cardinals edged the Perpetual Altas, 71-65, in the continuation of the NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball tournament at the FilOil EcoOil Centre on Sunday, September 15.

The league’s top star had his best game yet as a Cardinal, dropping an NCAA career-high 28 points on 9-of-20 shooting, 4-of-10 coming from three, to go with 3 steals, 2 assists, and 1 block. Marc Cuenco was a far second on the tally with 12 points and 6 dimes as Mapua tied Perpetual at 2-1.

Mark Gojo Cruz paced the loss with a team-high 17 points.

Meanwhile, the LPU Pirates unleashed a fourth-quarter flurry as they erased a 12-point deficit and snatched a 97-92 victory over the JRU Heavy Bombers to claim their first win with a 1-2 record.

Trailing 83-71 with a little over seven minutes left, the troika of John Barba, skipper Vince Cunanan and Mac Guadaña connived in sparking the decisive fightback in the final period when the Pirates outscored the Bombers, 36-20.

The trio accounted for 29 of those points that proved critical in completing LPU’s resurrection.

Barba ended up with a career-high-tying 28 points while Cunanan and Guadaña wound up scattering 20 and 17 points, respectively, in powering the season host to its first win after two sputtering starts.

Jonathan Medina and captain Joshua Guiab were the biggest reasons JRU got off to a strong start and were in control by firing 22 and 20 points, respectively.

But it went to waste as JRU just didn’t have an answer to LPU’s late, last-gasp surge.

The Scores

First Game

LPU 97 – Barba 22, Cunanan 20, Guadaña 17, Peñafiel 9, Montaño 9, Daileg 5, Aviles 4, Moralejo 2, Gordon 1, Villegas 1, Panelo 1, Caduyac 0, Culanay 0.

JRU 92 – Medina 22, Guiab 20, Argente 11, Ramos 9, Sarmiento 9, Barrera 9, Pangilinan 3, Bernardo 3, Ferrer 2, Mosqueda 2, Panapanaan 1, De Leon 1, Raymundo 0, Samontanes 0.

Quarters: 28-32, 53-62, 61-72, 97-92.

Second Game

Mapua 71 – Escamis 28, Cuenco 12, Jabonete 8, Hubilla 7, Mangubat 6, Bancale 6, Igliane 2, Agemenyi 2, Ryan 0, Concepion 0, Fermin 0.

Perpetual 65 – Gojo Cruz 17, Pagaran 12, Abis 12, Pizarro 9, Manuel 6, Orgo 5, Gelsano 2, Nuñez 1, Boral 1, Montemayor 0, Cauguiran 0.

Quarters: 23-20, 37-38, 50-53, 71-65.

– Rappler.com