MANILA – Clint Escamis made his presence felt for Mapua University Cardinals in the endgame as they prevailed over Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights, 69-66, in the NCAA Season 99 men’s basketball tournament on Saturday night at the San Juan Arena.
Down by as much as eight points midway through the fourth quarter, Escamis joined forces with Paolo Hernandez as they surged the Cardinals ahead 65-64 with over a minute left in the game.
The Knights regained the lead for the last time at 66-65, but Escamis scored on a go-ahead basket to give the Cardinals a 67-66 lead, and then he drained two insurance free throws with a second remaining in the contest.
Escamis finished the game with 21 points, with 12 coming in the second half, while Jopet Soriano chipped in 14 markers as the Cardinals remained on top of the standings with a 9-2 win-loss slate.
Kurt Reyson top-scored for the Knights with 17 points, Vince Cuajao added 12 markers, and Kint Ariar and James Jumao-as ended with 11 and 10, respectively, as the defending champions dropped to 1-10.
Meanwhile, Lyceum of the Philippines Pirates drew strength from the career game of Jearolan Omandac to score an 81-78 revenge victory over the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals.
The backup forward supplied a career-high 24 points, including five three-point conversions, to go with nine rebounds in 20 minutes as the Pirates scored back-to-back wins for an 8-3 record.
Omandac also had a key basket down the stretch as he completed a three-point play with 1:11 remaining in the fourth quarter, which turned a slim 74-73 lead into a 77-73 advantage.
The Generals still tried their best to catch up as they cut the deficit to as low as three points after a triple by Kyle Ochavo with five seconds left, but not enough to turn things around for them.
Renz Villegas chipped in 13 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, while Alvin Penafiel contributed 12 markers for the Pirates, which bounced back from their first-round loss to the Generals./PN
