In his first matchup against the reigning UAAP Men’s Basketball MVP Malick Diouf rookie-senior Joseph Obasa more than held his own.
The one-and-done Nigerian center tallied 13 points on a highly efficient 5-of-6 shooting from the field, while also grabbing eight rebounds and blocking five shots.
On the other hand, Diouf shot 4-of-11 from the field, scoring 13 points. He also secured 11 rebounds and blocked two shots. More importantly, the Blue Eagles emerged victorious against their modern-day rivals, the Fighting Maroons, in overtime, with a score of 99-89, with over 12,000 people in attendance at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday.
However, Obasa deflected the credit to his teammates as he struggled to stay on the floor, especially in the first half where he only played for one minute and 53 seconds due to two early fouls.
“Personally, I felt like I could’ve done better,” Obasa said.
“I don’t want to take away credit from such a great game from my teammates,” he continued as Geo Chiu, Mason Amos, Kai Ballungay, and Josh Lazaro took turns limiting the Senegalese center of UP.
“I should have tried to stay on the floor more, definitely. I just appreciate the faith the coaching staff had in me,” the 24-year-old, 6-foot-10 big man continued.
He later fouled out with 49 seconds remaining in overtime, accumulating a total of 16 minutes and nine seconds of court time. Before that, though, he made a critical block on Diouf and a slam dunk on the other end, which was part of a game-deciding run by Ateneo, giving them a 92-85 lead with 1:27 left in the game.
With the victory, the Blue Eagles secured their first winning streak of the season, raising their record to 4-3 and securing the third spot heading into the second round.
With the way things are going, Obasa is seeking improvements for the second round grind.
