'King Cardinal' Escamis mum on future with newly crowned NCAA champ Mapua

MANILA, Philippines -- Mercurial Mapua guard Clint Escamis’s legendary performance in the just concluded NCAA Season 100 senior basketball finals may just turn out his swan song.

“Let’s just first enjoy the moment,” said Escamis, who evaded questions by the media if he would stay for one final time to chase another championship.

But should Escamis forgo his final year, he will leave behind a legacy that he helped forge after his epic effort in the series that powered the Cardinals to a 2-0 sweep of the College of St. Benilde Blazers at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and ended their long 33-year title wait.

Escamis was the heart and soul of a Mapua team that swept the second round of elimination in nine games and hurdled Lyceum of the Philippines University in the Final Four and conquered CSB in the finals.

In those fleeting moments, he dished out memorable efforts after memorable efforts that included a brilliant game-winning triple in that second round win over CSB where Mapua had to dig its way out of a 26-point hole.

Escamis was also spectacular in the Final Four, where he dropped a career-high 33 points that he followed up with a 30-point masterpiece in an 84-73 win in the series opener.

He had an 18-point encore in the title-clinching win in Game 2 that could have been higher if not for cramps that hobbled him most of the second half.

“What can I say, we couldn’t have won it without Clint,” said Mapua coach Randy Alcantara. 

Should he leave, Escamis knew Mapua is already in good hands with the emergence of some future stars, including Cyrus Cuenco and JC Recto, and a couple of talented young blood in Chris Hubilla and Lawrence Mangubat.

“I keep saying that we need to play as a team if we want to win and we did,” said Escamis.