Mapua rediscovered its old form and leaned on the hot hands of Marc Cuenco to dump struggling San Sebastian, 91-72, on Friday, Sept. 27, in NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

Cuenco torched the basket and exploded with 26 points on a 10-of-15 clip from the field that included four triples as the Cardinals erased their bitter 96-81 loss to the Lyceum Pirates last Tuesday, Sept. 24, and improved their win-loss tally to 4-2.

The win tied Mapua at second with University of Perpetual Help and Letran, while pushing San Sebastian deeper near the cellar with its fifth consecutive defeat against two victories.

Cuenco said the team drew strength from that heartbreaking loss against Lyceum, where they were not in their usual fiery self.

“Last game, yung defense namin ampangit, tapos kulang na kulang kami sa energy. So this time, dinoble talaga namin yung effort namin,” said Cuenco, who also hauled three rebounds, and dished off three assists and one steal.

After a 2-0 start from San Sebastian, Mapua grabbed the upperhand and took control of the game with a 39-35 lead at the half.

Not satisfied with the single-digit edge, the Cardinals further stepped on the gas and outscored the Stags, 26-13, in the third for a comfortable 65-48 cushion.

San Sebastian never recovered since then, as Cuenco scattered 10 points in the final canto to keep Mapua going until the dying seconds.

Reigning Most Valuable Player Clint Escamis also exploded offensively, firing 25 points on top of four rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Chris Hubilla added 12 points.

Marc Igliane took charge in the paint and collared 10 rebounds on top of six points.

Tristan Felebrico and Paeng Are fought hard and scored 20 and 17 points while combining for 12 boards for San Sebastian, but Mapua’s overall game was too tough to handle.

The scores:

MAPUA 91 - Cuenco 26, Escamis 25, Hubilla 12, Bancale 6, Igliane 6, Jabonete 6, Concepcion 6, Mangubat 4, Abdulla 0, Fermin 0, Pantaleon 0, Agemenyi 0.

SAN SEBASTIAN 72 - Felebrico 20, Are 17, Aguilar 9, Cruz 8, Escobido 7, L. Gabat 3, Suico 3, Velasco 2, Lintol 2, R. Gabat 1, Pascual 0, Ricio 0, Ramilo 0.

Quarters: 22-12; 39-35; 65-48; 91-72.