Red-hot Mapua escapes Perpetual in OT

Mapua remained the hottest team in the NCAA Season 102 men’s basketball tournament after extending its win streak to five following a 65-60 overtime win over Perpetual Help at San Juan Arena on Friday.

Fresh off an OT win over Letran on Monday, the Cardinals continued to show their endgame composure with another extra period victory for a 5-3 record.

“Actually, the quote of the day was ‘toughness’ and I knew it would be a grind-it-out game and even a 45-minute game,” admitted coach Chito Victolero after their third OT win of the season.

“Humanap ako ng word para sa game na ‘to and it was all about our toughness, grit and resiliency. I think we had a bad game but we will take it.” he added.

Mapua looked like a completely different team in the extra period. The Cardinals had to chop a 10-point deficit in the fourth period when they trailed, 52-42, to force OT at 54-all.

Yet, when overtime came, Mapua opened the gates with a 9-4 rally capped off by a Cyrus Cuenco triple for the 63-58 lead with 1:43 to go.

Cuenco, who finished with a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds, scored nine of Mapua’s 11 points in the extra five minutes of the game.

Yam Concepcion and Marcus Nitura dropped 14 points a piece for the Cardinals while Jamal Diaz scored 12 in the dub.

LA Casinillo top scored for Perpetual with 17 markers whole Mark Gojo Cruz’s 10-point outing went down the drain as the Altas lost their fifth straight for a 2-6 record in Group B.