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| Clint Escamis explodes for 30 again. NCAA |
MANILA––Clint Escamis caught fire early on before his teammates finished off College of St. Benilde as Mapua drew first blood in the NCAA men's basketball finals with an 84-73 win on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Escamis led the Cardinals' charge in the first quarter, dropping 17 of the team's 26 points in the said period and at some point outscoring the Blazers before they finished the quarter with five straight points to cut the lead to six.
As Escamis' scoring began to slow down, the other Mapua players came alive, especially JC Recto, who was a spark plug off the bench as CSB could not forge a comeback to steal the series opener.
Over a week after dropping a career-high 33 markers against the Lyceum Pirates in the Final Four, Escamis finished with 30 points on 12-of-21 shooting, four assists, and five steals for the Cardinals, who can complete the sweep of the best-of-three series on Saturday back at "The Big Dome".
Recto added 15 points, three rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Allen Liwag made 18 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks, and two steals for the Blazers.
The scores:
MAPÚA 84 – Escamis 30, Recto 15, Hubilla 9, Mangubat 8, Jabonete 8, Cuenco 4, Concepcion 4, Bancale 3, Igliane 3, Ryan 0, Abdulla 0
ST. BENILDE 73 – Liwag 18, Cometa 13, Ancheta 10, Sangco 9, Sanchez 9, Ynot 7, Oli 3, Torres 2, Eusebio 2, Morales 0
Quarterscores: 26-20, 42-37, 57-48, 84-73
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