Cardinals topple mighty Lions, make 1st NCAA finals entry in 31 years

Game Sunday
(Filoil Flying V Arena)
3 p.m. – Letran vs Mapua

MANILA, Philippines – The last time Mapua made the NCAA basketball finals was more than three decades ago, when Cardinals coach Randy Alcantara was still a part of that same team that completed a back-to-back title romp.

The long wait is over.

Executing their plays in the stretch to perfection, the Cardinals ended the San Beda Lions’ nearly two decades of excellence with a 70-67 victory Tuesday to barge into the championship round for the first time in 31 years.

There, Mapua will battle a heavily favored Letran squad in a best-of-three showdown starting Sunday where the former will shoot for another first — a championship that has eluded the school since 1991.

Interestingly, Alcantara will be at the forefront of that bid as he tries to win an NCAA seniors crown as a player and a coach.

“This is historic for us and the school but there’s still work to be done,” said Alcantara, a multi-titled high school coach seeking his first championship in the seniors level.

And it was all because the Cardinals didn’t succumb to pressure and executed their plays in the clutch.

Down by a hairline, 61-60, with over three minutes to play, Mapua responded with a Warren Bonifacio free throw and an Adrian Nocum triple to snatch a 64-61 lead that it kept after coming through with answers to San Beda’s repeated fight backs.

Every time the Lions closed in and cut the Cardinals’ upper hand to a point, the latter would respond with either a timely basket or a critical stop.

The most decisive play came when Warren Bonifacio plucked the offensive board off a Nocum missed trey that led to Toby Agustin drawing a foul from JB Bahio and swishing two pressure-packed foul shots that gave them a three-point cushion.

San Beda had one last chance to knot the count and send the game into overtime but James Kwekuteye’s three-point attempt was way off the mark.

It was pandemonium from there as a jubilant Alcantara and the Cardinals celebrated on center court and shedding tears of joy knowing they have a chance at putting an end to a long title-drought.

The win also ended San Beda’s 14 straight finals appearance.

It was last eliminated 15 seasons ago or in 2005 before making it the next year and eventually a total of 14 straight seasons that netted 11 crowns in that impressive span.

And San Beda almost preserved the tradition after it rallied to steal a 73-67 OT win Sunday to force yesterday’s do-or-die game.

But as fate would have it, it wasn’t meant to be.

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

Quarterscores: 9-all; 27-24; 48-49; 70-67