The question for Adamson University throughout the UAAP Season 85 Men’s Basketball Tournament is who will be the number two guy after alpha male court general Jerom Lastimosa.
One player who added his name into contention is Vince Magbuhos, who produced 23 points on the back of seven-out-of-eight three-point shooting to lead the Soaring Falcons to a 76-65 victory over the Far Eastern University Tamaraws.
“I was thinking after the game, marunong pala shu-moot itong si Vince kase,” said Adamson coach Nash Racela.
Before this game, the 6-foot-5 cager only scored a total of 22 points in the Soaring Falcons’ first three games this season.
He made a big impression on his coach, who has been looking for some of his wards to step up and provide another scoring outlet for the team.
“Now I’m thinking – what if he took, (sa) first couple of games namin, he took those open three-pointers,” said Racela.
“I think malaking bagay ito sa amin moving forward.”
For his part, Magbuhos was just happy to be given a chance to show what he can do to help his team gain more wins.
The 23-year-old was eager to repay the faith put in him by Racela and his staff. To perform so well and get the win was indeed a rewarding experience.
“Sa tingin ko, hindi naman magiging ganun performance ko kung hindi ako binigyan ng playing time at kumpyansa nila coach,” said Magbuhos.
“Nagpapasalamat ako kanila coach kasi binibigyan nila ako ng trust.”
So is Magbuhos the guy who will consistently play the role of the number two guy after Lastimosa in Adamson?
That remains to be seen. What he wishes, though, is to see more of his teammates rise to the occasion and contribute more as they seek to bring the school back to the Final Four for the first time since Season 81.
“Kasi nga, yung laging sinasabi ni coach, hindi naman palagi nandiyan si Jerom. Meron din siyang mga off day,” said Magbuhos. “Yung mga iba like sila Joem (Sabandal), sila (Joshua) Yerro siguro need to step up pero hindi lang naman sila, everybody.
“It’s a team eh. Hindi naman individual ang basketball. Everybody, kailangan mag step up.”
