Will Gozum was a beast on Tuesday when College of Saint Benilde faced returning Jose Rizal University.
Despite facing an opponent that had figured in a long battle with COVID-19, the 6-foot-6 dynamic forward showed no mercy, dropping a career-high 34 points on a 13-of-17 shooting clip with eight rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.
More importantly, he led the Blazers to a dominant 92-79 win to score their ninth win in 11 games.
“I’m happy na career high, pero hopefully mag tuloy-tuloy pa rin kami. Siguro, parang day ko lang ngayon, feel ko next ‘yung mga ibang teammates ko naman ‘yung talagang mag work para diyan,” said the 23-year-old former UP Fighting Maroon.
“Yung mga coaches hindi happy, ako rin hindi rin happy kasi naka-seven turnovers, ang daming puwedeng mangyari diyan, and mas work on ko ‘yung mga turnovers ko, tapos papanoorin ko ‘yung mga videos nitong game na ‘to. Talagang pag-aaralan ko siya.”
Currently, the Blazers are on top of the NCAA table with just nine games left in the elimination round.
But Gozum is emphasizing that the work is not yet done.
After all, it was just five months ago when the Blazers failed to end their two decade-long Final Four drought after falling to University of Perpetual Help System DALTA in the knockout play-in game.
Yes, Gozum wants to end the “darkhorse” days of Benilde.
“Sinasabi ko lang lagi na ayaw na namin maging darkhorse for this season, gusto namin na ‘yung mentality namin is talagang championship.
“Final Four if makuha namin, good, pero ang gusto talaga namin ay maging champion this year para din sa mga seniors na ga-graduate,” said the former NCAA Juniors Champion with Mapua.
“Gusto naming matalo lahat and ipaki…Sawa na kaming maging darkhorse kasi eh. Parang every year na lang lagi kaming darkhorse so gusto lang namin ma-prove sa lahat lalo na gusto naming makapakita sa CSB community na this year, mas gusto namin and hopefully masuportahan nila kami,” he closed.
