Cardinals swoop down on Bombers for 2nd spot

Games Tuesday
(Filoil EcoOil Arena)
11 a.m. – SSC-R vs CSB
2:30 p.m. – Letran vs San Beda

MANILA, Philippines – Mapua continued to show it’s a legitimate title contender as it floored Jose Rizal University, 88-81, on Sunday to jump back to second place in NCAA Season 100 at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.

The Cardinals drew strength from their balanced offense, with reigning Most Valuable Player Clint Escamis spearheading the charge with 19 points — six of which came in the fourth quarter — which helped crush the Bombers’ late resistance.

Lawrence Mangubat, Chris Hubilla, Marc Cuenco and Jeco Bancale likewise came through as they chipped in 16, 15, 13 and 10 points, respectively, as the Cardinals zoomed to No. 2 alongside the Letran Knights with identical 5-2 cards.

It was a complete show of force for the Cardinals, who are out to shoot again for that first title in more than three decades after coming close in a painful finals defeat a season ago. This as they made their move early and built enough cushion to weather whatever storm the Bombers would whip up late.

And JRU did as it valiantly and furiously fought back from as big as a 23-point deficit, 42-19, that came early in the second period down to just five, 71-66, around two and a half minutes gone by the final period on a booming trey by its bull-strong captain Joshua Guiab.

It proved to be the Bombers’ last show of force as Escamis and the steel-willed Cardinals persevered in preserving the triumph.

The Bombers stumbled to 2-5.

The scores:

Mapua 88 – Escamis 19, Mangubat 16, Hubilla 15, Cuenco 13, Bancale 10, Jabonete 4, Igliane 4, Concepcion 4, Garcia 3, Ryan 0, Fermin 0, Agemenyi 0, Pantaleon 0

JRU 81 – Guiab 17, Panapanaan 15, Pangilinan 12, Raymundo 11, Argente 11, Benitez 4, Garcia 4, Mosqueda 2, Barrera 2, De Leon 1, Ramos 0, Samontanes 0, Sarmiento 0, Ferrer 0

Quarterscores: 32-18; 57-41; 71-57; 88-81