Mapua University will leave no stone unturned as it eyes putting an end to a 32-year title drought when it takes on San Beda University in the crucial Game 2 of the NCAA Season 99 men's basketball finals on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Tip-off is at 2 p.m. with the Cardinals looking to pick up where it left off from Game 1 while the Red Lions will hope to solve the Mapua puzzle and drag them to a rubber match.
Mapua took advantage of a one-week break, studying and memorizing the game style of San Beda which eventually bore fruit as the wards of head coach Randy Alcantara hacked out a 68-63 Game 1 win to move on cusp of their first title since 1991 last Wednesday.
While all eyes were on presumptive MVP Clint Escamis as well as veterans Warren Bonifacio and Paolo Hernandez, the rookie-sophomore duo of Peter Rosillo and Marc Cuenco stepped up big time for the Cardinals.
Rosillo, a former Adamson high school standout, shouldered the responsibility of guarding San Beda star Jacob Cortez, whom he limited to just 12 points on 3-of-17 from the field while also churning out 15 markers for his team on top of seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Cuenco, meanwhile, produced four points, six boards, three dimes, and one steal to give their main guys ample help.
Despite getting contributions from all, graduating team captain Bonifacio issued a warning to his teammates that their job is far from done, stressing that the Red Lions will surely come out roaring.
"Dahil may isang game pa na kailangan, hindi pa kami gano’ng kasaya dahil hindi pa naman tapos eh so ‘yung pressure andiyan pa rin. Hindi pa natatapos ‘yung series," Bonifacio said.
"Kailangan mas gutom kami na manalo kasi enough motivation na ‘yung 32 years para sa Mapua. Kailangan ibigay na namin ‘yung lahat, especially ako."
(Since we still have to win one game, we're not that happy yet since it's not yet over so the pressure is still there. The series is not yet done. We need to be hungrier to win because 32 years of drought for Mapua should be enough. We need to give our best, especially myself.)
For San Beda, meanwhile, they just have to shoot their shots in order to have at least a chance to force a Game 3.
The Mendiola crew is the league's number one team in three-point field goal percentages, shooting an impressive 32.04 percent from beyond the arc.
However, they nearly fired blank in Game 1, dropping just 5 of their 32 tries on a dismal 15.6 percent. This was a huge drop from their semifinals performance against second seed Lyceum of the Philippines University.
Against the Pirates, the Red Lions shot 13 of their 28 triple attempts en route to an 89-68 victory while they repeated that in their 82-72 win in do-or-die Game 2, where they also knocked down a similar 13-of-28 from the three-point area to advance to the finals.
San Beda head coach Yuri Escueta knows they have to address this aspect when they prepare for Mapua.
"Ishu-shoot namin ‘yung bola," Escueta answered when asked what they will improve.
"At probably play better defense [because] they can’t shoot 50 percent from the two-points sa field goal nila and hats off kay Rosillo. Rosillo played a good game so we have to give him more respect coming into the next game."
(Shoot the ball. Probably, play better defense because they can't shoot 50 percent from the two-point field goal and hats off to Rosillo. He played a good game so we have to give him more respect coming into the next game.)
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
