In Alaska’s first five games in the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup, Jeron Teng could only watch helplessly from the sidelines.
He was only able to provide moral support to his teammates, no thanks to a hamstring injury, which he got before the conference. And it hurt to watch his side lose all those games.
“Siyempre it was a struggle for me to see my teammates losing games and I couldn’t do anything.”
On Sunday, though, Teng had finally recovered and received clearance to play versus the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. And the sophomore forward out of De La Salle showed how badly he wanted to help.
Teng provided the spark for his team right from the start, before finishing with 18 points and nine rebounds. And his outing helped the Milkmen down the Elasto Painters, 78-71, for their first win in the tilt.
“I just really wanted to help them in today’s game,” said the second-generation cager of his performance.
“I think it’s clear na medyo kulang kami sa small forward position that can defend, that can rebound, [na] maaasahan to score,” said coach Jeffrey Cariaso.
“Big help that Jeron is back.”
Despite his pivotal performance, though, Teng said it wasn’t him alone that made the victory possible, but the whole team.
“Lahat naman kami, we really wanted this win badly. Practice pa lang, we’re pushing each other,” he said.
“Credit goes to all my teammates and to the coaches also for putting up a good game plan.”
Now that the Aces have scored their first win, the 6-foot-3 bruiser hopes they can sustain their run.
“It’s a good start for us. Hopefully, we build from this one game and we carry on to the next game,” he said.
