Despite being gone for 18 days due to health and safety protocols, Jose Rizal University’s Ry Dela Rosa showed no rust in their first game back in the NCAA Season 98 Seniors Basketball Tournament.
The junior Filipino-American guard had a career outing producing 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field, together with six boards, an assist, and a steal.
Unfortunately for him, his career-best wasn’t enough to lift the Heavy Bombers past Blazers, suffering a 92-79 loss.
“I’m still kinda lost for words. I would say, I’m thankful that my shots are falling, but at the same time, it doesn’t really mean much if you don’t get the win,” said the second generation cager.
“But, I think that for me, all throughout the season I was kind of struggling. So, I’m glad that my hard work is kind of paying off now, and I’ll continue to do that for myself; and for my team as well,” continued Dela Rosa, who averaged 5.0 points in their first seven games.
It was indeed a bittersweet moment for Dela Rosa guard after suffering their third defeat of the season.
Dela Rosa admitted that the long layoff factored big on their loss. After all, almost three weeks of no competitive basketball would tarnish the team’s overall play.
“That played a big factor ‘cause you know to get our rhythm back – not being able to play games for two to three weeks. It was tough to get the feel of the court, get the feel of environment again, but I think you know after today, we have nothing to do but keep our heads high ‘cause I think we played pretty well in my eyes,” the 22-year-old brother of former Red Lion Rome said.
“But, still, there’s a lot to work on.”
Still, Dela Rosa is keeping his head up as he believed the Heavy Bombers will be back on the winning track soon as the day progresses.
“Kinda treat as any other game that we have been preparing for. Hopefully, we get back our winning ways,” Dela Rosa hopes.
“But, we gotta continue what we’ve been doing, working hard and kind of just trust our system, trust one another. And, hopefully, in God’s will, we’ll make the playoffs again.”
