Warren Bonifacio steered Mapua in the final minute, as his two charities in the last 1:04 gave his squad enough room to post a 78-67 triumph over the College of St. Benilde Blazers on Tuesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Bonifacio’s basket handed the Cardinals an eight-point, 75-67 edge in the remaining time and this helped push them to the best-of-three finals of the 99th National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament.
Paolo Hernandez led with 22 points for the twice-to-beat Cardinals, who entered their Final Four playoffs with the Blazers as the top-seeded squad.
“Sa ganda ng nilaro ng Benilde, alam namin na hindi ibibigay sa amin ito,” said Cardinals’ coach Randy Alcantara as Mapua returned to the finals after a season-long absence.
Bonifacio’s imposing presence got felt by the Blazers during an 11-2 run, which saw Mapua moving away from a 64-65 deficit, and ahead by eight when their final assault was over.
The fourth-seeded Blazers, behind Miguel Oczon with 17 points and rebounds, missed the finals after losing the crown to the Letran Knights last year. Peter Atencio
“Siyempre, kailangan mag-focus kami sa ilalaro namin sa kanila (Blazers). Hindi mangyayari iyun without our two veterans (Hernandez and Clint Escamis). Nagawa namin iyun, at nadepensahan namin sila fourth quarter, sa pagpigil kay Oczon,” added Alcantara.
Oczon, the focus of Mapua’s defense in the last periods and was held to just three points, gave the Blazers their last taste of the lead, 65-64 in the 4:41 mark off his three-point play,
MVP candidate Escamis whipped up 21 points and eight rebounds for the Cardinals, with his triple in the last 7:06 putting Mapua in front, 62-58. Peter Atencio