In the last game day of the first round in the 92nd season of the NCAA, the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers did what the other teams failed to accomplish: defeat the San Beda College Red Lions.
And leading the JRU stunner was gunslinger Paolo Pontejos.
Pontejos bounced back from a horrendous four-point outing against the Arellano University Chiefs earlier in the week. The 24 year old matched his season-high with 27 points to go along with five triples, four assists, and three rebounds to help the Heavy Bombers defeat the Red Lions for the first time since the second round of Season 90.
For this momentous feat and strong effort, Pontejos was hailed as the Accel Quantum Plus-3XVI NCAA Press Corps Player of the Week.
Down by as much as 12 points in the final frame, the Laguna-native scored eight points, on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting, and dished out two assists, including a find to Tey Teodoro for the go-ahead triple, in a furious 20-2 rally to close-out the game.
On the other end, the 5’7” guard shackled San Beda’s primary playmaker, 6’0” Robert Bolick, in the crucial stretches of the game.
“Pagpasok ko, tambak kami pero sabi ko sa mga teammates ko, ‘never give up,’” the JRU senior said. “Sa defense, kailangan lang namin trumabaho para tumagal kami sa loob.”
With the win, the Laguna-native is hoping that this sparks a fire that had been missing from the team in the majority of the first round.
“Hopefully, ito na yun kasi San Beda ang tinalo namin. Sila ang unang malakas na team na tinalo namin sa first round,” he shared. “Sa second round, trabaho lang.”
“One game at a time.”
Pontejos’ outing sent back strong performances from Perpetual’s Gab Dagangon, Lyceum’s Mike Nzeusseu, and Arellano’s Jiovani Jalalon to take the weekly honor.
