Cyrus Cuenco buried the game-winning trey as the shorthanded Mapua University survived Emilio Aguinaldo College, 82-79, in the NCAA Season 100 on Tuesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.
The veteran guard first danced against the defense of Kyle Jacob before bravely soaring for the triple to send Mapua to the solo second spot with an 8-3 card.
The Generals, meanwhile, dropped to 5-6 despite going up against a depleted Mapua side that lost John Jabonete to suspension and Marc Igliane to a disqualifying foul in the second period.
"Sabi lang sa akin ni coach Randy na 'Cy, take charge', so ayun 'yung parang nag-boost ng confidence ko and nagpapasalamat din ako kay Lord na na-shoot ko 'yung tirang 'yun," Cuenco said.
Cuenco came alive in the dying minutes, first splitting his free throws to give Mapua back the lead at 77-76. But Harvey Pagsanjan sank a free throw of his own for another deadlock in the final 1:58 of the fourth before Mapua rookie Chris Hubilla was called for a three-second violation to turn the ball over.
The Generals, however, failed to capitalize on this with Wilmar Oftana and King Gurtiza both missing their shots as the latter also committed a foul on Cuenco.
The Mapua guard then completed a pair of freebies, but his teammate JC Recto fouled Jacob, whose two charities saw another knotted game at 79-all with 33 seconds to go.
But Cuenco rose to the occasion and knocked down the triple as King Gurtiza fired blanks in his final triple attempt.
Clint Escamis still ran the show for Mapua, pouring in 23 points, six rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block as they completed an elimination round sweep of EAC.
Cuenco and Hubilla tallied 16 markers apiece while Lawrence Mangubat chipped in 10.
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—JMB, GMA Integrated News
