FilOil: Mapua soars past RP Youth team to first win

The Mapua Cardinals grabbed their first win of the FilOil Flying V-Hanes Premier Cup after routing the RP Youth U18 Team, 100-70, on Monday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Cardinals halted their skid at 1-4 and placed them at sixth in their group. The slide continues for the U18 Team as they sit dead last in their bracket with five losses, 0-5.

The Nationals ruffled the Cardinals' feathers in the first half, leading by as much as 12 points before the NCAA squad took flight in the second half, dumping 63 points on their younger counterparts. The Cards exhausted the Nationals' press, unloading 36 points on the youngsters in the final quarter while limiting them to just 11 points.

Cardinals head coach Atoy Co was a touch more cautious about the win though, saying, “Nothing to be happy about, we played against high school players.”

He also revealed that before the game he had cautioned the Mapua players about letting their guard down. “The ball is round, you cannot take that lightly. We only played good defense in the third and the fourth [quarters].

“I don't like that attitude that you come out half-heartedly. Every time you come out to the game, 101 percent right away. I've been telling them, the first five should not reserve their energy. Five to six minutes, I'll take you out. If you’re playing good, I'm going to give you 1-2 minutes of rest, but you do not reserve your energy up to the last minute.”

Pivot man Jesse Saitanan racked up 20 points, leading four other scorers in double figures. The Cardinals shot 55 percent from the field and added 21 points from second-chance opportunities, out-rebounding their foes 52-32 after tallying just 20 boards at the half. The Nationals looked visibly tired, missing shots they normally made in the first three quarters of play while adding just four points out of 19 attempts from the stripe in the second half.

The Nationals' game clicked early on, disrupting passing lines and converting on their run-and-gun game as they led 20-9 over a languid Cardinals team, which quizzically played without sweet-shooting big man Jessie Saitanan after Co benched him two minutes in. Mapua cut the lead to eight points after Joseph Eriobu scored on a stab, 20-12, but the U18 Team continued preventing entry passes inside. The youngsters led 24-12 after the first frame.

The Cards woke up in the second quarter as Eriobu headlined a 7-0 run to make it a 24-19 game, as the National squad pressed for time. Mapua's ball movement figured out how to break the Nationals' press and gave both Josan Nimes and Saitanan - who to that point scoreless - some touches as they finally evened the game at 29-29. The Cardinals stole the lead after Saitanan banked in a hook, but Dave Yu and Paul Desiderio combined for three treys as the Nationals went on a 17-8 scoring tear to hold a 46-37 lead at the half.

Ranbill Tongco paced his team with 14 points, leading two other Youth Team members in double figures. Yu pumped in 13 points on top of eight rebounds and three assists, while Desiderio fired for 11 while going 3-for-3 from downtown. The U18 Team statistically played evenly or worse than their more experienced counterparts, but their six triples at the half made the difference.

Saitanan and Eriobu each had eight points for their side. Despite the height advantage, the Cardinals grabbed just as many rebounds as their shorter counterparts, 20-20.

Mapua coursed it's offense through Eriobu, which yielded results as the 6'5" center went off for seven points, six from the interior, as they chipped away the lead, 50-46. The Nationals found clean looks on the break and in the interior but failed to create, while the Cardinals finally fired on all cylinders, going an 11-2 run to close out the quarter. After three, Mapua was on top, 64-59, outscoring their foes 27-13.

MIT mined the paint for second-chance points as a tired RP Youth frontline found itself being pushed and shoved for every rebound. Exequiel Biteng hit a triple from the left wing to give his side a 10-point advantage, which he upped to 15 after another triple, 82-67, as the Nationals were left gasping for air. Both squads emptied their benches at the three-minute mark as the Cardinals completed the rout, 100-70.

Eriobu added 19 points to go along with nine rebounds, while Nimes and Biteng both tallied 15, the latter converting four out of five from downtown. Rey Cantos logged a double-double with 14 points and 13 board.

Tongco scattered 20 points while Desiderio chipped in with 18 points. Yu had a near double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds. The U18 Team shot 35 percent as a team and cashed in only two second chance points.

The Cardinals (1-4) get another crack at a win on Wednesday against the slumping St. Clare Saints (1-4) at 2:15pm while the Nationals (0-5) play their last game of the tourney against the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights (2-3) on Friday at 2:15pm. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:
 
MIT - Saitanan 20, Eriobu 19, Nimes 15, Biteng 15, Cantis 14, Isit 6, Gabo 5, Serrano 4, Canaynay 2, Estrella 0, Layug 0, Gonzales 0, Villasenor 0

RP U18 - Tongco 20, Desiderio 18, Yu 15, Escoto 6, Asilum 5, Subido 3, Armenion 2, Go 1, San Juan 0, Manguera 0

Quarter scoring: 12-24, 37-46, 64-59, 100-70