Mark Nonoy shot the lights out, leading De La Salle University to an 86-76 victory over University of the East in the UAAP Season 86 Men’s Basketball Tournament last Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The 5-foot-8 spitfire guard from Negros Occidental scored 25 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the three-point area. He also contributed four assists, two rebounds, and one steal in 25 minutes and 37 seconds on the floor.
His performance against UE surpassed his previous career high as a Green Archer, which was 17 points against Far Eastern University on March 31, 2022, back in Season 84.
“Di ko naman makukuha yung confidence ko kung hindi dahil sa coaches and teammates ko,” said Nonoy.
“Sila yung nagpapalakas ng loob ko na ready lang lagi then bago magstart yung game kanina parang sinabi sa akin ni Coach Topex na, ‘Kapalan mo na mukha mo’,” the graduating guard continued.
“Kaya ginawa ko lang sinabi niya, nagpapasalamat ako kasi parang nakuha ko yung respeto niya at yung tiwala niya sa akin.”
Green Archers fans have wanted to see more of these performances from Nonoy since he was recruited from University of Santo Tomas before the start of Season 84.
However, that was not the case.
Injuries and being forced to play as an alternate point guard under coach Derrick Pumaren limited his capabilities on the floor.
Consistency has been missing with regard to Nonoy, and he has only produced good scoring outputs in spurts.
Despite these circumstances – or maybe because of them – he has become a better team player under Robinson.
“When you define kase yung team, I really admire yung tiwala ni Mark e. I don’t know if you note, but he is really not playing a lot of minutes throughout the season, but wala kaming narinig na anything sa kanya,” said Robinson.
“Actually, when I told him yesterday that he’s gonna start, sabi niya ‘Coach, ok lang ako kahit third group.’ That’s how much he really believes in what we do. He deserves to really have this game for him because going further down the season we need everybody to really contribute,” the former Phoenix Super LPG head coach continued.
“Sinabi nga ni Theodore (Jurado) kanina, we wanna bring back that Mark Nonoy that really gave a lot of fans fun to watch, and he just showed it. Sobrang happy lang ako for Mark and I know that he will continue to grow and help his team in the way that he can.”
La Salle has two more elimination round assignments, as well as games in the Final Four and maybe beyond for Nonoy to cement a great legacy in his final collegiate season.
The Green Archers are gunning for the Season 86 crown, and more scoring outputs such as this one will only strengthen their cause.
Amidst the hope, expectation, and pressure of being a Green Archer, he simply wants to play loose in his last games at this level of his career.
“So yun yung parang ultimate goal namin na parang before na kami na magstep sa court dapat mag-enjoy kami, wag kami [magpadala] sa pressure, i-enjoy lang namin yung moment,” he said.
