Wikipedia

Mapúa Cardinals basketball

The Mapúa Cardinals basketball program represents Mapúa University (MU) in men's basketball as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) (NCAA). The Mapúa Cardinals are one of the three NCAA seniors' basketball teams in Intramuros.

Mapúa Cardinals
2023 Mapúa Cardinals basketball team
UniversityMapúa University
Founded1930; 94 years ago (1930)
History
  • MIT Cardinals (until 2017)
  • MU Cardinals (since 2017)
Head coachRandy Alcantara (4th season)
LocationIntramuros, Manila
NicknameCardinals
ColorsRed, Gold, and Black
     
NCAA Champion
1949, 1965, 1981, 1990, 1991

History edit

Originally as the Mapúa Institute of Technology (MIT), the Cardinals are named after the Major League Baseball team St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals have won six NCAA titles, the first in 1949, and the latest in 1991. Atoy Co won the NCAA MVP award in 1971, and would later coach the team in the 21st century. Freddie Hubalde won the NCAA MVP award in 1973, and will be team mate of Co in the grand-slam winning 1983 Crispa Redmanizers team. Alvin Patrimonio then played for the Cardinals from 1983 to 1986, becoming NCAA MVP in his final two seasons with MIT.[1]

In 1991, the Cardinals coached by Joel Banal won its last title off a go-ahead shot by Benny Cheng against the San Beda Red Lions.[2]

Final Four era edit

In 2001, Mapua qualified to its first playoff appearance in the Final Four era. They took the eventual champions San Sebastian Stags to a second game before being eliminated.[3] Two years later, they were eliminated in the semifinals against Letran.[4] Starting in 2005, Kelvin dela Peña led the Cardinals to four straight semifinals appearances, losing to defending champions PCU in 2005[5] and to San Beda in the next three years. Dela Peña was named Rookie of the Year in 2005, and Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2007.[6]

The Cardinals would not make it to the playoffs until 2015 when Nigerian Allwell Oraeme led them to the semifinals. Named Rookie of the Year, MVP, and three other awards, he and coach Atoy Co ended two seasons of being in last place to qualify to the semifinals,[7] where they were beaten by Letran.[8] Oraeme had another banner year in 2016, winning the MVP award and Defensive Player of the Year.[9] The Cardinals lost to the Arellano Chiefs in the semifinals.[10] Preparing for the 2017 season, Co revealed that Oraeme left school, saying he was not happy at Mapua and intends to go back to Nigeria.[11] The Cardinals finished outside the playoff places in the next two seasons, and Mapua let go Co after the 2018 campaign.[12]

Randy Alcantara, coach of the successful Malayan Red Robins (their high school team), was then named coach of the seniors team.[13] In the 2021 season (held in early 2022), the Cardinals qualified to its first Finals appearance since 1995.[14] They lost to the defending champions Letran Knights.[15] In the next season, Mapua won its first game vs. San Beda,[16] which was then reversed due to an ineligible player.[17] The Cardinals then lost seven consecutive games.[18] Mapua did not qualify to the playoffs.[19] On the next season, Mapua clinched its first #1 seed in school history, returning to the playoffs.[20] However, the Cardinals were upset by the San Beda Red Lions in the finals.[21]

Current roster edit

NCAA Season 99

Mapúa Cardinals roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Year High School
PF 4   Bonifacio, Warren 6'5" (1.96m) 5th Malayan High School of Science
SG 9   Hernandez, Paolo  (C) 6'3" (1.91m) 4th Malayan High School of Science
PG 0   Escamis, Clint 5'11" (1.8m) 3rd Malayan High School of Science
SF 2   Asuncion, Ferdinand 6'2" (1.88m) 3rd Chiang Kai Shek College
PG 29   Rosillo, Peter Ryle 5'8" (1.73m) 1st Adamson University
PF 1   Igliane, Marc Andrei 6'5" (1.96m) 2nd Chiang Kai-shek College
PG 23   Bancale, Jeco 5'10" (1.78m) 1st Cebu Institute of Technology
SG 77   Morenos, Miggy 6'0" (1.83m) 1st Mapua University
SG 17   Sabsalon, Kem 6'2" (1.88m) 2nd [[]]
SG 7   Dalisay, Kobe 5'11" (1.8m) 2nd De La Salle Zobel
PF 5   Recto, John Christopher 6'3" (1.91m) 1st Arellano University
C 91   Fornis, Resty 6'6" (1.98m) 4th La Finn's Scholastica
G/F 24   Agustin, Toby Bryan 6'2" (1.88m) 5th University of Santo Tomas
PF 18   Soriano, Jopet 6'3" (1.91m) 3rd Technological Institute of the Philippines
SG 10   Cuenco, Marc Cyrus 5'11" (1.8m) 2nd Arellano University
Head coach
  •   Randy Alcantara
Assistant coach(es)
  •   Yong Garcia
  •   Hesed Gabo
  •   Nani Epondulan
  •   Joselito Aguilar
  •   Marionne Josef Baleno
Team manager
  •   Aurelio Gonzales Jr.
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  •   Injured
Updated: 2022-10-22

Rivalries edit

Mapua plays the Battle of Intramuros, so named after the Manila district, with the Letran Knights.[22]

Head coaches edit

Season-by-season records edit

Season League Elimination round Playoffs
Pos GP W L PCT GB GP W L Results
1999 NCAA 6th/8 14 6 8 .429 3 Did not qualify
2000 NCAA 5th/8 14 5 9 .357 6 Did not qualify
2001 NCAA 3rd/8 14 9 5 .643 2 2 1 1 Lost semifinals vs San Sebastian
2002 NCAA 5th/8 14 7 7 .500 4 Did not qualify
2003 NCAA 4th/8 14 7 7 .500 2 1 0 1 Lost semifinals vs Letran
2004 NCAA 5th/8 14 7 7 .500 3 1 0 1 Lost 4th seed playoff vs San Beda
2005 NCAA 3rd/8 14 9 5 .643 4 1 0 1 Lost semifinals vs PCU
2006 NCAA 4th/8 14 7 7 .500 6 1 0 1 Lost semifinals vs San Beda
2007 NCAA 4th/7 12 6 6 .500 5 1 0 1 Lost semifinals vs San Beda
2008 NCAA 4th/8 14 9 5 .643 2 4 2 2 Lost semifinals vs San Beda
2009 NCAA 7th/10 18 6 12 .333 10 Did not qualify
2010 NCAA 4th/9 16 9 7 .563 7 1 0 1 Lost stepladder round 1 vs JRU
2011 NCAA 5th/10 18 7 11 .389 9 Did not qualify
2012 NCAA 6th/10 18 8 10 .444 7 Did not qualify
2013 NCAA 10th/10 18 2 16 .111 13 Did not qualify
2014 NCAA 10th/10 18 4 14 .222 9 Did not qualify
2015 NCAA 3rd/10 18 12 6 .667 1 3 2 1 Lost semifinals vs Letran
2016 NCAA 3rd/10 18 12 6 .667 2 1 0 1 Lost semifinals vs Arellano
2017 NCAA 10th/10 18 3 15 .167 15 Did not qualify
2018 NCAA 7th/10 18 6 12 .333 11 Did not qualify
2019 NCAA 6th/10 18 9 9 .500 9 Did not qualify
2020[a] NCAA Season canceled
2021[b] NCAA 2nd/10 9 7 2 .778 2 4 1 3 Lost Finals to Letran
2022 NCAA 6th/10 18 7 11 .389 7 Did not qualify
2023 NCAA 1st/10 18 15 3 .833 — 4 2 2 Lost Finals to San Beda
  1. ^ Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. ^ Season postponed to early 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References edit

  1. ^ "Mapua Cardinals: Going beyond the walls of Intramuros | NCAA Philippines". www.gmanetwork.com. Retrieved 2022-10-01.
  2. ^ "V-Day again for MIT Cards". Manila Standard.
  3. ^ Navarro, June (September 23, 2001). "Bombers, Stags forge final duel". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 4, 2001.
  4. ^ Rondez, Bobby (September 11, 2003). "Knights, Stags arrange NCAA finals showdown". The Manila Times. Archived from the original on March 4, 2004. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  5. ^ Menor, Dominic (2005-09-09). "Letran, PCU set showdown". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  6. ^ "How a transfer from Canada to the Philippines paid off for Mapua MVP Kelvin dela Peña | NCAA Philippines". www.gmanetwork.com. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  7. ^ "Chot Reyes fined P50,000, Jolas P20,000 for post-game incident". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  8. ^ "Mark Cruz stands tall as Letran Knights turn back Mapua Cardinals to reach NCAA Season 91 Finals". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  9. ^ "Mapua's Allwell Oraeme bags back-to-back NCAA MVP award". RAPPLER. 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  10. ^ "Arellano eliminates Mapua, advances to NCAA Finals". RAPPLER. 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  11. ^ Leongson, Randolph B. (2017-04-25). "Atoy Co left fuming as Oraeme leaves Mapua". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  12. ^ a b Riego, Norman Lee Benjamin (2019-11-19). "NCAA: Mapua moving on from head coach Atoy Co". Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  13. ^ a b "Red Robins coach Randy Alcantara gets fitting send-off to Cardinals". Tiebreaker Times. 2018-11-15. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  14. ^ "Mapua eliminates San Beda, reaches NCAA Finals for first time in 27 years | NCAA Philippines". www.gmanetwork.com. Retrieved 2022-10-01.
  15. ^ "Letran drubs Mapua, completes NCAA season sweep with back-to-back titles". RAPPLER. 2022-05-22. Retrieved 2022-10-01.
  16. ^ "Mapua makes early statement, snaps San Beda's opening-day win streak". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  17. ^ "NCAA forfeits Mapua's opening win vs San Beda, slaps ineligible player with lifetime ban". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  18. ^ "NCAA: Mapua outlasts EAC for first win of Season 98". 2022-10-08. Retrieved 2023-10-02.
  19. ^ Jr, Rommel Fuertes (2022-11-23). "NCAA: Mapua bests San Sebastian to conclude Season 98 stint". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  20. ^ "Former Mapua juniors star Will Gozum stands in way of Cardinals' title bid". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
  21. ^ Navarro, June (2023-12-17). "San Beda beats Mapua to reclaim NCAA basketball championship". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  22. ^ "Mapua sets up 'Battle of Intramuros' vs Letran in return to finals after 31 years". Manila Bulletin. 2022-05-11. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  23. ^ a b "These NCAA coaches cultivated breeding ground of future PBA stars". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  24. ^ a b Eroa, Dennis U. (2000-03-26). "Jorge new Mapua coach". Google News Archive. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
  25. ^ "Cardinals steamroll Great Danes, notch first win". ABS-CBN News. 2009-07-10.
  26. ^ "Time to step down after three title-less years, says Mapua's Victolero". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
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