MANILA, Philippines – Championship-caliber composure always sets apart those who are ready to contend and those who are not.
San Beda proved just that to Mapua in their first encounter since the NCAA Season 99 men’s basketball finals, as the defending champion Red Lions reasserted mastery over the misfiring Cardinals in a 76-69 overtime thriller in a rocking Mall of Asia Arena on Tuesday, October 8.
Yukien Andrada was one of a handful of San Beda standouts who donned the hero’s cape in the cardiac affair, as he powered through with a team-high 18 points on 8-of-18 shooting, capped with a go-ahead three at the 2:14 mark of the extra period, 71-69. Later he canned a highly contested fadeaway with 1:13 left, 73-69.
Reigning Finals MVP James Payosing again shone under the bright lights with 15 points, star transferee Bryan Sajonia scored 10, while resurgent guard Penny Estacio added 9, including the wide-open game-tying layup that forced overtime, 66-all, 7.4 seconds left in regulation.
With the win, San Beda mirrored Mapua and Letran’s identical 6-3 records, but now holds the superior tiebreaker to settle at second place behind No. 1 College of St. Benilde (7-2).
“Every time we play Mapua, with Clint Escamis and [Cyrus] Cuenco, you know those guys won’t give up,” San Beda head coach Yuri Escueta said in Filipino. “We have to give it to our boys for playing defense in the end of the fourth and during overtime.”
“As I said, we might be struggling offensively, and we’re losing games also in the first round, but throughout the first round, the only thing that’s been saving us is our defense. I’d like to believe based on the stats that we’re the No. 1 defensive team.”
Sure enough, it was Mapua’s Cuenco and Escamis who gave a fresh batch of headaches to the Red Lions in the nail-biting affair, as the former topscored in 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while the latter scored 19 in a 7-of-19 clip.
Escamis, however, emptied the chamber too early in the contest, as the reigning MVP was responsible for 14 first-half points to give Mapua a 37-24 peak lead in the second quarter, but only 5 the rest of the way on a putrid 2-of-10 second-half clip.
Meanwhile, in the first game of the triple-header, the CSB Blazers kept solo first place with an 84-69 blowout of the JRU Heavy Bombers for a 7-2 record after what was a tumultuous first round for their lofty, title-or-bust standarads.
Fast-rising guard Jhomel Ancheta led the way with a game-high 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting, backstopped by 15 on a 3-of-8 three-point clip from Gab Cometa.
Star big man Allen Liwag added 12 points but saw his usually-hefty rebounding numbers disappear with just 3 boards in the win. Front court partners Mark Sangco and Justine Sanchez picked up the slack in the post with 10 and 9 rebounds, respectively, to boost their identical 12-point finishes.
Joshua Guiab paced JRU’s descent to a 3-6 slate with a near-perfect outing of 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting.
Still playing as of posting time were the botton-dwelling San Sebastian Stags and the middling EAC Generals.
The Scores
First Game
CSB 84 – Ancheta 17, Cometa 15, Liwag 12, Sangco 12, Sanchez 12, Ondoa 9, Torres 5, Jarque 2, Eusebio 0, Cajucom 0, Ynot 0, Serrano 0.
JRU 69 – Guiab 24, Raymundo 12, Pangilinan 12, Argente 5, Mosqueda 5, Bernardo 3, De Jesus 2, Panapanaan 2, Garcia 2, Ferrer 2, Ramos 0, Benitez 0, De Leon 0, Sarmiento 0, Barrera 0.
Quarters: 27-17, 55-29, 70-47, 84-69.
Second Game
San Beda 76 – Andrada 18, Payosing 15, Sajonia 10, Estacio 9, Gonzales 6, Puno 6, Lina 5, Tagle 3, Celzo 2, Royo 2, Calimag 0.
Mapua 69 – Cuenco 20, Escamis 19, Concepcion 9, Mangubat 6, Hubilla 6, Bancale 5, Igliane 2, Jabonete 2, Ryan 0, Fermin 0.
Quarters: 19-16, 30-38, 53-53, 66-66 (reg.), 76-69 (OT).
– Rappler.com
