Finishing the elimination round on top of the standings has been a tradition for the San Beda College Red Lions for the past decade. On Friday afternoon, the cagers from Mendiola gave themselves a shot at extending the decade-long dominance to 11 years after sweeping their regular season series against the Arellano University Chiefs.
Coach Jamike Jarin and the San Beda community have Javee Mocon to thank, as the 21-year-old consistently performed during the Red Lions’ “hell stretch” – which also secured the Red Lions a twice-to-beat advantage in the NCAA Season 92 Final Four.
“I just don’t want to lose this game. I just played my heart out. I did everything I can to contribute to our win,” the Antipolo City native said after San Beda’s win over Arellano.
Averaging 16.5 points and 14.0 rebounds in those two outings, the 6-foot-3 Mocon was named as the ACCEL Quantum/3XVI-NCAA Press Corps Player of the Week for the week of September 17 to 23.
Mocon tallied a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds in San Beda’s 84-75 win over Perpetual on Tuesday and followed it up with a 19-point, 15-rebound performance in their 91-81 trouncing of Arellano last Friday, with his biggest plays coming in the endgame, where he staved off the Chiefs’ late comeback bid with his clutch baskets.
“It’s Arellano and they’re the barometer,” the third year forward remarked about wanting to defeat Jio Jalalon and the Chiefs in each of their outings.
“We’re confident, but we’re not overconfident. It’s still Arellano and we know they’re going to come back stronger for the next game.”
Mocon bested the following student-athletes for this week’s crown:
