Jio Jalalon has done practically everything to help the Arellano University Chiefs win games.
Averaging league-highs in points, assists and steals, Jalalon will try to sustain his stellar, MVP-worthy play as his Chiefs take on the Letran Knights, the defending champions, on Thursday, July 13 in the 92nd NCAA basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
In his first two outings, Jalalon has piled statistics in stratospheric level with norms of 28 points, seven assists, and five steals, all league-best, on top of his seven rebounds a game to help his team stay unscathed.
The proud son of Cagayan de Oro City will need to do more of that when Arellano faces off against the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights at 4:00 p.m.
“Gagawin ko ang lahat para sa team ko. Yun lang.” said Jalalon, who is also part of the Gilas Cadet team that topped the SEABA Championship in Thailand a couple of months ago.
Jalalon terrorized San Sebastian in dropping season-highs 33 points and 11 assists and a league-record eight steals in a one-sided 99-91 victory on July 1.
He will be a marked man against a Letran team coming off two close shaves – against Emilio Aguinaldo, 76-72, and St. Benilde, 56-52.
“He’s hard to stop but we’ll do our best to slow him down,” said Letran coach Jeff Napa of Jalalon.
Letran, who will be seeking to duplicate its fairy-tale championship a year back, will have to draw more consistent plays from Rey Nambatac and Jom Sollano, who have been playing up-and-down early in the season.
CDO-native Nambatac, now the leader after Mark Cruz and Kevin Racal left, erupted for 33 points versus EAC but imploded with just eight points in the next game while Sollano made up for sub-par efforts in the first two games by unloading a game-high 16 points against St. Benilde.
“We need to do it consistently if we want to do better this season,” said Napa.
The Altas, who downed the Jose Rizal Bombers, 58-50, to improve to 1-1, and the Stags, also possessing a 1-1 slate, will try to move closer to the leaders as the two gun for their second straight win.
