MANILA, Philippines – The St. Benilde Blazers had one key goal heading into the NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball finals against the Mapua Cardinals – limit Clint Escamis’ scoring production.
However, it turned out to be tougher than expected as Escamis uncorked a game-high 30 points to power the Cardinals to an 84-73 victory over the Blazers in Game 1 of the best-of-three series on Sunday, December 1.
“We need to study [Escamis’ game more] since he’s so good. We need to practice more on how to defend him,” said Benilde swingman Tony Ynot.
“We need to know how to stop him, since even though we were doubling him, he knew how to find lapses in our defense,” Ynot added.
Adding to St. Benilde’s woes were numerous blunders on offense, which included their pitiful 23 turnovers.
Outside shooting wasn’t clicking either, as the team only managed to hit 5-of-21 from downtown. The Blazers, though, made up for it with their inside game, scoring 21-of-37.
NCAA MVP frontrunner Allen Liwag did his part, leading the Blazers’ offense with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, along with 14 boards and 3 blocks.
“We weren’t able to stop anybody on defense,” rued Ynot.
“We also committed a lot of turnovers, so we have to prepare for that in Game 2. We will try to work on our mistakes.”
St. Benilde and Mapua will have a week’s worth of rest before Game 2 on Sunday, December 8, and by then, the Blazers hope to be much more ready. – Rappler.com