Going into their Final Four match-up against the Mapua Cardinals, the biggest question facing the Arellano University was whether their frontline could limit the production of reigning Most Valuable Player Allwell Oraeme and the big men of the Cardinals.
It was a problem that had plagued the Arellano Chiefs last season in their playoff game against the very same team. A year ago, the Cardinals had out-rebounded the Chiefs, 51 to 35, with Oraeme grabbing 28 boards. Moreover, Jio Jalalon put on a one-man show in that game — scoring 37 points, grabbing seven rebounds, dishing out five assists, and stealing the ball five times.
Friday afternoon was a different story.
Arellano’s big men heeded Jalalon’s call from a year ago, grabbing 60 rebounds in the game compared to just 46 for Mapua. Oraeme still had 24 rebounds, but the huge rebounding discrepancy between the two squads led to an unprecedented 100 field goal attempts for Arellano.
Leading the charge for the now-finalists was Lervin Flores with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Dioncee Holts was able to grab 10 boards as well, while Kent Salado added nine rebounds in Arellano’s 92-80 win.
“Sobrang nagpasasalamat ako sa lahat ng big man namin,” shared Jalalon, who himself had eight rebounds.
“Nagtulong tulong sila. Hindi man na-stop si Oraeme, grabe ang sacrifice nila.”
Arellano head coach Jerry Codinera added that he had told Flores to focus on boxing out and crashing the boards in the game.
“He’s always there,” he said about Flores, who is a former Our Lady of Fatima Phoenix. “Sabi ko lang huwag mawawala yung rebounding.”
“You’re in a tough battle today.”
For Flores, who had been struggling in the second round of the league, he relied on his faith and the trust of his coaches to get him off of this ordeal.
“Nag-prapray lang ako na bigyan ako ng malakas na katawan ni Lord,” the 23-year-old power forward shared. “Mga coaches ko lagi nila ko tinuturuan.”
“Kaya ginagawa ko talaga yung best ko para makuha namin championship.”
