MANILA, Philippines — The Mapua University suffered a three-game skid before scoring a breakthrough victory against the defending champion San Beda University, 55-54, in Group A of the NCAA Season 102 men’s basketball tournament on Monday afternoon at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Mapua had a tough string of losses and finally cracked through the win column with the late-game heroics of Jamal Diaz, who was responsible to turn things around when San Beda was leading by 54-49 in the last one minute and 25 seconds of the final canto.
Diaz drained a triple with 54 ticks left, as San Beda's Sean Torculas missed a two-point jump shot.
With under 20 seconds left, Diaz delivered another triple with 12 seconds left that allowed Mapua to earn a 55-54 lead.
The Cardinals played hard-nosed defense, preventing San Beda from converting any points in the dying seconds of the match.
Diaz finished with eight points along with five rebounds.
Marc Cuenco led the scoring for Mapua with 19 points.
San Beda was led by Richi Calimag, who poured in 18 points, while Lawrence Hawkins made 13 markers along with eight rebounds.
