MAPUA University averted what could have been a huge meltdown and scored an 88-81 victory over Jose Rizal University yesterday to grab a piece of second in the 100th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

The Cardinals banked on reigning MVP Clint Escamis, who scored six of his game-high 19 points in the final period to help Mapua defuse the bomb the Bombers tried to detonate and lift the team to joint No. 2 with Letran at 5-2.

It was a balanced attack for the Cards, the bridesmaid last season, as four others finished in double figures—Lawrence Mangubat (16), Chris Hubilla (15), Marc Cuenco (13) and Jeco Bancale (10).

The Cardinals set the pace early, burying the Shaw Boulevard-based five in the opening quarter 32-18 and then went on a 10-1 blast in the first couple of minutes of the next canto to pad their lead to 42-19, their biggest for the game.

In the other game, King Gurtiza reigned in the dying seconds as Emilio Aguinaldo College nipped Lyceum 90-88.

With the Generals down by three points with a little over a minute to go, Gurtiza struck with a triple and two pressure-packed free throws that helped seal their third win against four defeats.

That was the same record of the Pirates, who just couldn’t buy a basket the rest of the way.

When everybody thought it would be a walk in the park the rest of the way, JRU went out to prove it was no pushover and reduced the deficit to just five at 66-71 early in the final canto.

It was the closest the Bombers could get to as Escamis and the Cardinals’ shackling defense worked wonders. JRU dropped to 2-5.