Mesina catches fire, leads UE past Zobel

University of the East leaned on Mav Mesina’s clutch performance to overcome De La Salle-Zobel with a 79-70 win and remain unbeaten in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 87 junior high school basketball tournament yesterday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Meanwhile, Jhon Canapi’s late-game brilliance carried University of Santo Tomas to a narrow 76-75 victory, halting the four-game winning streak of Far Eastern University-Diliman earlier in the day.

Mesina delivered in the payoff period, sinking two consecutive triples that dashed the upset hopes of the Junior Archers.

The 5-foot-9 guard, who was part of UE’s squad last season, contributed an all-around stat line of 18 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and two steals, propelling the Junior Warriors to their eighth straight win.

UE’s unbeaten run was in danger late in its game against DLSZ.

A layup by Jayden Centeno gave the Junior Archers a 71-69 advantage with 3:05 left, but UE quickly responded with a layup by Jolo Pascual and two clutch three-pointers from Mesina, securing a comfortable 77-69 cushion with 1:21 remaining.

“This is a good win to start the second round. We expected this,” Junior Warriors head coach Andrew Estrella said.

“For me, I like this kind of situation because it’s another lesson for us.”

While the Red Warriors celebrated their eighth consecutive victory, it was Canapi who stole the show for the Tiger Cubs.

Trailing by five with 1:12 left after a late 10-2 run by the Baby Tamaraws led by Anton Lopez, Canapi seized the opportunity in the clutch. Two free throws and a layup by Miguel Jubilado trimmed the Tiger Cubs’ deficit to 75-74 with 24.4 seconds remaining.

Off the inbound, Canapi, the two-time Junior Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Most Valuable Player, stole the ball and quickly sank the go-ahead layup with 21.6 seconds left, completing UST’s comeback and dashing FEU-D’s 24-15 fourth-quarter run.