Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tiebreaker Times

Basketball

Yong Garcia lauds young Nygel Gonzales for continuing to put in the work


Mapua University is off to a hot start in the ongoing NCAA Season 98 Juniors Basketball Tournament.

The Red Robins are currently on a 4-0 start for a tie at the top of the standings with Colegio de San Juan de Letran.

But what’s impressive with Mapua’s streak compared to Letran is that they have arguably a much tougher schedule.

They defeated the highly-touted La Salle Green Hills to start their campaign (74-70) before beating University of Perpetual Help System DALTA (75-66) and defending champion San Beda-Taytay (76-62).

Though not having the same star power as the other squads, Red Robins head coach Yong Garcia said that what they have is execution.

“I’m happy dun sa mga players and credits din sa kanila na naexecute namin yung gameplan both offensively and defensively,” he said after their win over the Red Cubs last Wednesday.

Against San Beda, Mapua was put to the test.

The Red Robins finished the game strong but it cannot be denied that they struggled at the start not getting their rhythm offensively.

Good thing Nygel Gonzales was there to make up for the early offensive slump, scoring almost half of Mapua’s first half points with 16 for them to get the slight 34-29 advantage, going to the second half.

“Ineexpect ko na na darating sa kanya yung ganitong performance kasi nakikita ko naman sa bata na all-out siya palagi sa mga practices namin, and even dun sa game, talagang all-out siya,” Garcia told about Gonzales, who finished with 18 points on 8-for-14 shooting together with six rebounds and six assists while going a game-high plus-28.

#ReadMore  NCAA indefinitely suspends John Amores

But when it mattered most, the Red Robins got ahead of their slump as they outscored the Red Cubs 42-33, thanks to the efforts of Sean Salvador, Nicolo Mulingtapang, and Noel Agemanyi who came alive in the second half as the lead even grew to by as much as 20, 71-51 thanks to an Agemenyi bucket right at the 3:40-mark in the payoff period.

“Nung umpisa medyo okay naman and then yung San Beda credits din sa kanila pero nung sa endgame, nagfocus talaga yung mga bata dun sa endgame namin so yun.”

And that focus Gonzales and the rest of the Red Robins has is what they will need as the season enters crunch time.

Written By

Writer. Letranite. Basketball nerd and a life-long Los Angeles Lakers fan. My love for sports brought me here.


You May Also Like

MIT

Mapua bucked the absence of coach Randy Alcantara as it routed San Sebastian, 95-79, Wednesday – keeping them tied with College of St. Benilde...

Basketball

By: Neo Garcia Clint Escamis and Rajko Toroman already knew on Saturday that the Mapua University-College of Saint Benilde clash the following day would...

Basketball

By: Brenn Allen Flores Cyrus Cuenco led Mapúa University to a 71-57 victory over the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA in the NCAA...

Basketball

By: Brenn Allen Flores Lawrence Mangubat took control in the final minute, sinking the game-winning three-pointer to lead Mapua University to a thrilling 69-68...

ADMU

Just like that, the Philippine collegiate basketball season is approaching its most exciting phase, with the Final Four just weeks away in both the...

Basketball

By: Bjorn del Deade Mapua University entered Sunday’s game with a singular goal in mind: to exact revenge on the defending champion San Beda...

Basketball

By: Bjorn Del Deade Mapua University exacted sweet revenge against San Beda, escaping with a 58-55 victory to solidify their hold on second place...

Basketball

By: Brenn Allen Flores Despite a near triple-double performance that propelled Mapua University past contenders Colegio San Juan de Letran, Chris Hubilla remains more...

Advertisement