When the going gets tough, players and their coaches need to pull together towards one direction to reach the light.
After a bad start that saw the school fall to a 0-2 hole, Adamson University knew it needed to get its act together against University of the East if it wanted to get its UAAP Season 85 Men’s Basketball Tournament campaign back on track.
Coach Nash Racela wanted to see a reaction from his players and he got just that. His backcourt duo Joem Sabandal and Jerom Lastimosa led the Soaring Falcons to a 74-61 win over the Red Warriors.
“Masaya (sa) first win, pero I reminded the boys after nag-huddle kami na isang panalo lang yun,” said Sabandal, who led all scorers with 16 points. He also contributed four rebounds and two assists in close to 26 minutes of action.
“Dapat hindi kami makuntento. Alam naman namin na kaya namin gawin ng tama yung sistema ni coach Nash.”
If Sabandal provided the scoring, then Lastimosa embodied what a true court general should act like on the floor.
The 5-foot-10 point guard produced 10 points, seven assists, and zero turnovers in close to 24 minutes of action.
It was a fine demonstration of why Lastimosa will be one of the country’s most sought-after recruits in the professional game once his UAAP career ends.
“Siguro hindi ko pinipilit yung gusto kong gawin. Yun nga, nag-follow lang talaga ako sa sistema ng mga coaches kaya nagawa ko yun,” said the Dumaguete native.
“Yun nga, masaya kase zero turnovers. Parang first time kong makagawa ng zero turnovers.”
For his part, Racela kept gushing about how well his humble court general played throughout the contest.
It is rare these days that a point guard will not commit a single turnover since they’re the ones who normally hold the ball the longest. So he was happy to see Lastimosa achieve that feat.
“Hindi madali yun kase sa haba ng oras na hawak niya ang bola diba,” emphasized the UAAP Season 78 champion.
It took three games, but Adamson finally barged into the win column.
There is still a long way to go this season. And for the Soaring Falcons to at least return to the Final Four for the first time since Season 81, everyone has to contribute in their own little way.
Lastimosa and Sabandal may get the headlines, but the rest of the team needs to pull through in their coming fixtures.
“We don’t see that very often kase sa dalawang nagsasabay sila. That’s the ideal thing for us especially when we talk about how shallow our bench is,” said Racela.
“Lahat ng pwedeng mag-contribute, talagang tatanggapin lang namin. It’s nice if they always play well every game but again the challenge really is more for the other guys.”
