MANILA, Philippines–Clint Escamis is not any stranger to pulling the Mapua Cardinals out of a ditch and main his crew to victory.
Final season’s rookie-MVP sank a miracle three on the buzzer, lifting the Mapua Cardinals in an epic 75-73 win over the Faculty of St. Benilde Blazers on Sunday within the NCAA Season 100 males’s basketball match.
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Escamis picked it up in a wild scramble for possession and sped to the opposite finish earlier than launching the triple from means out for the game-winner that despatched your complete Filoil EcoOil Area reverberating in a frenzy.
READ: NCAA: Streaking Mapua beats Perpetual to spice up twice-to-beat bid
‘SOBRANG SPEECHLESS’
Mapua’s Clint Escamis talks about his game-winner over league chief Faculty of St. Benilde.
The Cardinals ended up profitable, 75-73, to enhance to 13-3. #NCAASeason100 @INQUIRERSports pic.twitter.com/b2Z0LiiLqm
— Rommel Fuertes Jr. (@MeloFuertesINQ) November 10, 2024
“I grabbed the possession, appeared up on the clock and noticed there have been 4 seconds left. There was a defender approaching, so I made a decision to take the shot,” mentioned Escamis after the Cardinals clawed their means from 20 factors down within the first half.
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“Up to now, it was the most important shot of my profession,” added the Mapua crew captain, who fired 26 factors, highlighted by three triples, on high of 5 assists, 4 rebounds and a steal.
The Cardinals’ win No. 13 tied them with the Blazers on the high as they appear to clinch a twice-to-beat edge within the Remaining 4 with two video games remaining within the elimination section.
They’ll shut out the second spherical in opposition to the Jose Rizal College Heavy Bombers and the San Sebastian Stags, two squads already out of rivalry within the semifinal.
Escamis led Mapua’s comeback within the third, hitting eight straight factors, together with a pair of threes that pulled them inside 5.
Yam Concepcion scored in transition and the Cardinals lastly seized the higher hand on a drive by Cyrus Cuenco, 61-60, earlier than Allen Liwag put order on CSB’s ground.
READ: NCAA: Mapua escapes Lyceum on Lawrence Mangubat’s heroics
The Cardinals discovered it laborious to include the 6-foot-6 Liwag across the rim, permitting the Blazers to regain management.
Liwag scored seven of the Blazers’ 10 factors within the fourth and Tony Ynot’s putback off an Ian Torres miss gave them the 73-72 edge previous to Escamis’ heroic act.
“It was God,” mentioned Mapua coach Randy Alcantara, speechless for a number of seconds in the course of the post-game interview.
“Clint, he all the time takes these sorts of photographs. He bailed us out a number of instances prior to now and Mapua is fortunate to have a participant like him,” added Alcantara.
Liwag was a dominating determine inside, pacing the Blazers with 15 factors, 13 rebounds, 5 blocks and three assists whereas Gab Cometa and Torres added 10 factors every.
The scores:
MAPUA 75 – Escamis 26, Mangubat 12, Concepcion 11, Cuenco 8, Hubilla 5, Recto 5, Igliane 4, Bancale 4 Fermin 0, Abdulla 0
ST. BENILDE 73 – Liwag 15, Torres 10, Cometa 10, Oli 10, Ynot 9, Sanchez 7, Ancheta 5, Eusebio 3, Cajucom 3, Sangco 1, Ondoa 0, Morales 0, Turco 0
Quarterscores: 16-28, 39-54, 60-63, 75-73