Clint Escamis and Paolo Hernandez came to the rescue in crunchtime, helping Mapua survive the reigning champion Letran, 69-66, in the NCAA Season 99 men’s basketball tournament on Saturday, Oct. 28, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

Escamis drained a mid-range jumper with 49.1 seconds left and also a pair of free throws to seal the game for the Cardinals who improved to 9-2 while also maintaining their hold of the top spot.

Escamis topscored Letran with 21 points while Hernandez logged five points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Hernandez also shone bright in the fourth quarter after sinking a deep triple that cut Letran's lead to one, 63-64, before creating an excellent play that resulted in a Jopet Soriano basket and gave them the lead with less than a minute remaining in the contest.

Soriano had 14 points and grabbed six rebounds while skipper Warren Bonifacio pumped in eight points, nine rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal.

“Teamwork pa rin ang naging key ng panalo namin, stay composed lang," Randy Alcantara said.

“Yung [mindset] namin dapat gutom kami palaging manalo,” he added.

The Knights had one last chance of saving the game, tying the score and sending the game into extra time.

But Vince Cuajao’s prayer of a three-point heave was off-target.

Despite Kurt Reyson's poor shooting in the waning seconds, he still topped the Knights with 17 points. 

Letran slid to 1-10.