Last September 25 was the biggest gameday in collegiate basketball so far this year.
In the first game of the day, the Mapua Institute of Technology Cardinals almost made a huge comeback in an attempt to foil the San Beda Red Lions. Unfortunately for the thousands of Mapuans in attendance, the team fell short as the huge 15-point first half lead was just too much for the young Cardinals. The team, after a huge second half surge, eventually fell to the Mendiola cagers, 75-65.
One of the protagonist during the second half Mapua rally was PBA-bound Josan Nimes. The Mapuan senior provided the stability on the court during the blitz as he scored nine points and dished out four assists that calmed the once-rattled Cardinals.
“I think in the first half, we let San Beda get a big lead. We started too slow and in the second half it was too much to overcome,” Nimes said about the dismal first half the team had that saw them go down 41-26 entering halftime.
During the game, the offense of the Red Lions went into full throttle in scoring 19 points off of fast breaks. “They just outran us. We normally outrun teams but they gave us our dose of our own medicine. I don’t know what happened but we started really slow,” he remarked. But the ace forward was still proud of the effort his team did in the second half of the game, “I’m proud because we came way back and had the chance to win it.”
According to the Rain or Shine draftee, the expectations of the team weren’t that high prior to the game. “We’re not really putting that much emphasis on this loss. We know San Beda is one of the top teams. We weren’t expecting to beat them heavily but we competed.That’s all we wanted,” he disclosed.
Even with the loss, the Cardinals are still tied at fourth with the Arellano University Chiefs and the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers. Compared to the two teams they are tied with, they also have the lightest schedule as they are schedule to face the hapless Emilio Aguinaldo Generals on Friday, October 2 and then face the College of Saint Benilde Blazers on the final game day of the regular season.
The Fil-Australian knows that their final two assignments are winnable but does not want to be too overly confident about it. “We’re still confident. I’m not saying that our last two opponents are light but we’re supposed to win those games and improve in those two games. We have a good chance of making it to the Final Four.”
Nimes also vowed to the Mapua faithful that they will go hard and send the Cardinals back to the Final Four, a feat that the school last accomplished in 2011. “That we’re gonna go hard these last two games. We’re not gonna take any team for granted.”
