In a battle between two winless teams, it was University of Santo Tomas that emerged victorious against University of the East.
And it wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for the career-high outing of Sherwin Concepcion which allowed the Growling Tigers to pull away with the 74-62 victory on Thursday night.
The 25-year-old guard out of Tarlac fired 25 points after waxing hot from beyond the arc with six three-pointers against the Red Warriors. He also grabbed five rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes and 33 seconds of action.
After tallying a new personal best, Concepcion bared that he only tried to do his best in order to help the Growling Tigers nab their first win of the season.
“Siyempre kahit naman sino gusto manalo eh at ginawa lang namin ‘yung 101-percent namin para manalo talaga and sumunod kami sa system namin. Being a veteran siyempre, dapat mag-lead ako sa team,” he claimed.
“Basta ganun, tulungan lang kami, walang iwanan.”
Concepcion is one of the few remaining players from the UST squad that was coached by former head coach Aldin Ayo two years ago. Despite having more responsibility as a senior, he admitted that he doesn’t mind carrying a heavier load this time around since he knows that he really needs to step up, especially with the young roster that they have right now.
“Sabihin nating mahirap pero ‘di ko na iniisip ‘yun eh, nandito na ako eh.
“Kailangan ko tulungan teammates ko and siyempre dapat ko silang i-lead. Dapat maging leader talaga ako. ‘Yung mga tinatraining namin everyday, sinasabi ko sa kanila nag-sakripisyo na tayo eh, dapat wag natin pakawalan ‘yung ganitong sitwasyon,” the 6-foot-2 sniper continued.
Despite his impressive outing, Concepcion shared that he didn’t pay attention to his individual numbers as he just wanted to repay the trust that was given to him by the coaching staff, especially as one of the leaders of the team this season.
“Di ko naman talaga tinitignan ‘yung score ko eh, basta ‘yung sa’kin lang nakakatulong ako sa team and ‘yung mga pinapagawa sa’kin ng coaching staff,” he continued.
“Gusto ko magawa nila at ‘yung tiwala nila ayokong mawala. Ginagawa namin lahat ‘to para sa UST community.”
Concepcion and the rest of the Growling Tigers (1-2) will aim to get their second consecutive victory when they take on Adamson University on Saturday, 4:00 PM at SM Mall of Asia Arena.
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