The Mapua University Cardinals advanced to the NCAA Finals for the first time in 27 years after surviving a thrilling knockout game, 70-67, to eliminate the San Beda University Red Lions in the NCAA Season 97 Final Four on Wednesday at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Mapua, the #2 seed who entered this series with a twice-to-beat advantage, will move on to face the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights in the title series — which will mark the Cardinals’ first appearance since 1995.
San Beda, meanwhile, will see its string of 14 consecutive finals appearances come to an end. This will be the first NCAA Finals series without the Red Lions since 2005.
Arvin Gamboa and Brian Lacap each scored 13 points to lead Mapua while Paolo Hernandez added 11 markers, including seven in the fourth quarter.
Yukien Andrada finished with a game-high 19 points for San Beda. Star guard James Kwekuteye and Peter Alfaro both contributed 11 points to the Red Lions' cause.
The teams started out evenly as the first quarter ended in a 9-all deadlock.
Mapua built some momentum in the second as Gamboa and Lacap kicked off a 12-2 run for the Cardinals with back-to-back triples. After a basket for San Beda on the other end, Toby Agustin sparked the Mapua offense by scoring and assisting on six straight points, giving his team a 25-14 lead.
But the patient Red Lions chipped away at that margin, with a pair of buckets from Andrada bringing them back to within four, 25-21, and a three-pointer from Alfaro making it a two-point game, 26-24.
The Cardinals, though, took a 27-24 lead into the halftime break courtesy of a free throw from Lacap.
Gamboa led Mapua with nine points in the first half while Alfaro paced San Beda with just five, though they had eight Red Lions scoring at least two points in a balanced attack.
The San Beda offense opened up in the third quarter as Andrada found his shooting touch to the tune of 10 points, including three triples. With Andrada firing away from long range, that opened the lanes up for guys like Kwekuteye and Ralph Penuela, who combined for nine points as they turned a 34-29 deficit into a 49-43 lead with a 20-9 run.
Mapua, though, closed the period out with five unanswered points to set up a tight fourth quarter.
A 12-3 Mapua run in the fourth, spearheaded by Hernandez and Rence Nocum, allowed the Cardinals to take a three-point lead, 60-57, with 5:43 remaining.
The two teams exchanged big shots from guys like JB Bahio, Franz Abuda, and Kwekuteye from the San Beda side and from Hernandez and Nocum from the Mapua camp.
They entered the final minute of the game with the Cardinals leading by a single point, 66-65, before Gamboa made one of the biggest plays of the game as he scored a huge bucket against Andrada to make it a three-point lead, 68-65, with 33 seconds left.
San Beda executed on an inbounds play to get a good look for Penuela, who converted to again make it a one-point game, 69-67.
Nocum then missed a three-point attempt on the other end, but San Beda knocked the ball out of bounds on the rebound scramble to give Mapua another chance.
The Cardinals took advantage of that second possession, moving the ball around and leaving the Red Lions no choice but to foul Agustin, who iced two free throws, with six seconds left.
San Beda still had a shot to tie game with a last shot, but they could not get it to fall.
The game capped an exciting trilogy of head-to-head clashes between Mapua and San Beda.
The Cardinals shocked the NCAA when they handed a previously unbeaten Red Lions team their first loss of the season, 68-54, in their elimination round match, which ended up deciding the race for the #2 seed.
San Beda, meanwhile, got some measure of revenge in their first Final Four encounter, where they overcame a big fourth quarter deficit to eventually hurdle Mapua, 73-67, in overtime.
Awaiting Mapua in the finals is a powerhouse Letran team that has won all 10 of their games this season, including a sweep of the elimination round and a victory over University of Perpetual Help System DALTA in the Final Four.
The scores:
Mapua 70 - Gamboa 13, Lacap 13, Hernandez 11, Bonifacio 8, Nocum 7, Pido 6, Agustin 6, Mercado 6, Salenga 0, Garcia 0.
San Beda 67 - Andrada 19, Kwekuteye 11, Alfaro 11, Bahio 9, Penuela 5, Abuda 3, Cuntapay 2, Cortez 2, Jopia 2, Amsali 2, Ynot 1, Sanchez 0.
Quarters: 9-9, 27-24, 48-49, 70-67.
—JMB, GMA News
