Clint Escamis and Marc Cuenco were almost unstoppable as the backcourt duo propelled Mapua University to a 77-71 win over woeful Colegio de San Juan de Letran in the NCAA Season 99 on Wednesday.
Mapua has now won three straight games to claim the solo second spot at 5-1 while Letran dropped to 0-6.
Letran displayed better offense in the third quarter, outscoring Mapua, 20 to 7, with Deo Cuajao and Kurt Reyson helping to cut their deficit to one, 55-56.
Prior to that, the Knights once found themselves down by as much as 14 points.
But Mapua didn’t allow Letran to build up some kind of momentum in the fourth as Escamis and Cuenco sent the Cardinals to a 66-57 lead.
Escamis’ hot hands then made it a 71-59 affair before Cuenco buried a three-pointer followed by a Warren Bonifacio jumper for a comfortable 76-62 cushion.
Cuajao and Reyson gave some signs of life for Letran as they trimmed the deficit to eight with 1:09 left, 69-76.
However, that was the closest they could get as Cuenco split his freebies for the win.
Escamis starred with 20 points on top of seven rebounds, five assists and eight steals while sophomore Cuenco had 20 markers as well together with 10 boards, one dime, one steal, and one block. Warren Bonifacio chipped in 11 points, eight rebounds, and one assist.
Scores:
Mapua 77- Escamis 20, Cuenco 20, Bonifacio 11, Soriano 9, Asuncion 5, Rosillo 4, Hernandez 4, Recto 4, Bancale 0, Dalisay 0, Fornis 0.
Letran 71- Cuajao 20, Reyson 16, Santos 14, Javillonar 6, Go 6, Jumao-as 3, Ariar 22, Bojorcelo 0, Monje 0, Garupil 0, Batallier 0, Guarino 0, Fajardo 0.
Quarterscores: 24-13; 49-35; 56-55; 77-71
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
