With the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers fielding in a team that has nine rookies, the seniors needed to double their effort. But for fourth-year Tiger Zachy Huang, he has had to triple or even quadruple the work he has been putting in.
Steve Akomo has been out of UST’s lineup for the last five games, so Huang has been tasked to anchor his team’s defense.
Game in and game out, he – together with Enrique Caunan and rookies Germy Mahinay and Ira Bataller – has needed to dig deep, defending the giants of the league.
By the way, Huang stands at 6-foot-4.
But even if he gets bruised and battered inside the paint, the 20-year-old just plays on.
“That’s Zach!
“Kasi putok lagi dito at sa scrimmages namin, pinapagpag lang eh. Naka-focus lang lagi sa objective namin which is to compete,” Ayo beamed.
Sunday afternoon, in their game against the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, the Sacred Heart School standout was tasked to do two things: Defend 6-foot-10 behemoth Prince Orizu, and win. And he was able to do both of those things successfully, tallying a career-high 20 points while helping limit Orizu to just eight points – 18 points down from their first outing last September 12.
“Wala akong ginagawang special.
“Yung sinasabi ng mga coaches, I just follow them. I just do my part, and then if may ginagawa akong mali, sinasabihan ako, I reflect on it and I learn from what the coaches say,” the soft-spoker Cebuano shared.
With 15 seconds left in the game and UST up big over the Tamaraws, Arvin Tolentino clocked Huang with a closed fist that resulted in a disqualifying foul. But instead of retaliating, he simply stood up and headed to the foul stripe.
Even after the game, he held no grudges against Tolentino.
“Wala, normal foul lang “
That’s Zachy Huang for you.
