Even if he was down with the flu, sophomore Almel Olquina still managed to shoot the lights out to bag the NCAA Season 93 All-Star 3-point shootout plum, Friday afternoon at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
This is Mapua’s second crown in the All-Star event, as JP Nieles had won the Skills Challenge earlier in the day. And this small victories is big for the struggling Cardinals.
“Sa akin, sobrang importante nito kasi NCAA ito eh. Ang sama na ng laro namin, kahit paano, nakabawi kami dito,” said Olquina.
And he needed to drag himself to compete in the contest as he has been suffering a bad case of the flu for the past few days.
“Nagkasakit ako e tapos kakabalik lang kanina nung trangkaso ko,” he shared.
In the heads-up finale, Olquina needed just four racks to upstage the 10 points of Perpetual’s Jack Hao. The Cardinal finished with 15 points to clinch the crown.
“Nag-focus lang ako. Ginanahan kasi ako nung sumisigaw na yung fans ng kalaban,” Olquina shared.
Olquina and Hao had actually been tied to end the first round with 18 points each. Defending champion AC Soberano and RK Ilagan were distant seconds with 14 points.
Other participants include JRU’s Lloyd Castor (7), Lyceum’s Spencer Pretta (8), EAC’s Sidney Onwubere (9), Arellano’s Brylle Meca (10), Letran’s Jerrick Balanza (10), and Saint Benilde’s Matt Johnson (10).
