MERCURIAL Mapua guard Clint Escamis’s recently completed 100-game NCAA basketball finals season may just be his swan song.
“Let’s start enjoying this time,” said Mr. Escamis, who avoided media questions if he will stay for the last time to chase another title.
But if Mr. Escamis, retiring in his senior year, will leave behind the history he helped make after his big effort in the series that gave the Cardinals a 2-0 sweep of the College of St. Benilde (CSB) Blazers at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and ended their 33-year wait for the title.
Mr. Escamis was the heart and soul of the Mapua team that made it to the second round of eliminations in nine games, beating Lyceum of the Philippines University in the finals and defeating CSB in the finals.
He pulled off memorable effort after memorable effort that included a match-winning triple in that second round win over CSB when Mapua had to claw their way out of a 26-point hole.
Mr. Escamis was also spectacular in the Final Four where he dropped a career-high 33 points and followed it up with a career-high 30 points in an 84-73 win in the series opener.
He had 18 points in the title-clinching game in Game Two, which would have been a high if not for the cramps that plagued him in the second half.
“What can I say, we wouldn’t have won it without Clint,” said Mapua coach Randy Alcantara.
If he does go, Mr. Escamis knows Mapua is in good hands with the emergence of future stars including Cyrus Cuenco and JC Recto and talented youngsters in Chris Hubilla and Lawrence Mangubat.
“I keep saying we have to play as a team if we want to win and we did that,” said Mr. Escamis. — Joey Villar
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