HUNGRIER THAN EVER: Cardinals swear last year’s setback still hurts

No. 1 seed Mapua University vows to use its twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four to return to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball finals.

Cardinals head coach Randy Alcantara said they haven’t forgotten the pain of losing the NCAA Season 99 title to San Beda University and are now hungrier than ever to break their 33-year title drought.

Mapua finished the elimination round with a 15-3 win-loss record and will face host Lyceum of the Philippines University, which has a 10-8 record, on 23 November at the Cuneta Astrodome at 11 a.m.

“I said that’s the good thing here because it’s been a year since we were hurt but it seems like our new ones are part of it. We made you feel how painful it was last year. So every practice, every game is necessary,” Alcantara said.

“I was really surprised because we knew there were only a few people we could go to, but they saw that they could help even though they were rookies.”

While reigning Most Valuable Player Clint Escamis remains Mapua’s top guy with an average of 15.44 points and 3.61 rebounds, some of the rookies stepped up in their title drive.

Rookie big man Chris Hubilla is the Cardinals’ second-best performing player in Season 100 with 12.89 points and 6.33 rebounds.

Also stepping up for Mapua is Lawrence Mangubat, who finished the elimination round as their fourth-best player with averages of 9.06 points and 4.06 rebounds.

The Cardinals only need to win one game to book a slot in the finals, but Alcantara said they can’t take the Pirates lightly especially now that they are fielding a complete roster.

Led by veterans John Barba, JM Bravo and Mclaude Guadaña, Mapua knows better than to underestimate the Pirates, who have been doing everything they can to return to the big dance since 2018.

“We can say that we are more prepared this time but things could change once we face Lyceum,” Alcantara said.

“They have scorers like (Renz) Villegas and Barba. Bravo’s return is also a big impact for them so we need to work hard.”