Mapua University’s ice-cold shooting led to its 65-71 setback to San Beda University in Game 2 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 99 men’s basketball tournament best-of-three finals series last Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Newly-crowned Most Valuable Player Clint Escamis admitted that their inability to sink their outside shots, especially in the fourth quarter, cost them their chances to wrap up the series and claim their first title in 32 years.
Escamis and Paolo Hernandez failed to convert six three-pointers in the final 1:39 of regulation that paved the way for the Red Lions to secure the equalizer.
All in all, the Cardinals were held to only 21-of-79 field goal shooting for a miserable 26.6 percent on top of a woeful 5-of-33 shooting from the three-point area.
“It was just an off night for us. We were shooting a lot of three-pointers and that’s on us,” said Escamis, who had a quiet 15 points behind a 4-of-21 shooting clip from the field.
“We need to practice more.”
Escamis said they will definitely train hard and show up prepared for the sudden-death Game 3 on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“There were lapses in the way we took our three-pointers so it was a big factor why we lost Game 2. We’ll study the film and adjust.”
Escamis, who won two titles with the Red Robins in 2016 and 2018, said raising the MVP and Rookie of the Year trophies prior to the match was not a distraction.
“It’s just Game 2 for me and I was told that I will get the (MVP) award so it’s nothing new to me,” Escamis, who returned to the Cardinals last year after a brief stint with University of the East in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, said.
He added that having a one-week break before Game 3 is definitely a huge advantage.
“I feel that the one-week break is advantageous on how we look at things, maybe some people think we might get rusty but it’s all about the mindset. We’re still going to go hard in practice and it will help us recover and prepare,” Escamis said.
