By: Bjorn Del Deade
Yukien Andrada was having an off day from beyond the arc during San Beda’s Round 1 closer against Mapua – uncharacteristic for one of the Red Lions’ best shooters.
From the first to the fourth quarter, Andrada shot 1-of-6 from three-point territory.
“Throughout the game, I wasn’t hitting my shots talaga,” Andrada said.
Then, Penny Estacio made the game-tying layup to keep the Red Lions alive for overtime. And Andrada wasted no time in rebounding from his poor shooting night.
He scored half of San Beda’s 10 overtime points – including the go-ahead triple at the 2:15 mark to lift the Red Lions over the Cardinals, 76-69, for solo second place at the end of the round.
“Tiwala lang ako sa tira ko. I was just, sabi nga sa kanila, coach, huwag akong magmadali. Darating din niya, papasok din niya,” he said.
“So, I just trusted my teammates and my coaches to, you know, when they give me the ball, I’ll take that shot.”
Andrada scored 18 points on 44.4-percent shooting from the field while grabbing nine rebounds.
Throughout the first round, Andrada has been key to San Beda’s offense, alongside Bryan Sajonia and Jomel Puno. This has earned him the trust of head coach Yuri Escueta.
“Alam naman natin si Yuki, whether he misses shots or he makes them, he’s still gonna shoot them,” Escueta said.
“He knows that he has that green light from us.”
The Red Lions shot 40.8-percent from the field while dishing out 40 assists. Escueta expressed satisfaction with the team’s offensive execution in this game, especially after their struggles during the round.
“We learned a lot from our execution at the other side. Sa offensive side ng court. So, I think kahit paano, one percent improvement for me in this game is good,” he said.
However, he stated he felt more impressed with San Beda’s defense, especially during overtime, where the Cardinals were held to just three points.
“We might be struggling offensively, but we might be losing games also in the first round. But throughout the first round, the only thing that has been saving us was our defense,” Escueta said.
“It’s just our calling card and our mentality and the identity that we want to build is yung defense namin.”
As the Red Lions head into the second round with the second-best record, Escueta noted that San Beda is still far from its championship form.
He acknowledges that there is still a lot to improve on for the team.
“Malayo pa. Malayo pa kami. But getting there, much better now. Hopefully, after eight games, nine games, naka-adjust na lahat sa NCAA style of play and dun sa system na susubukan namin,” he said.
