WHEN talking about Mapua, the first few names that will come to people’s minds would certainly be former MVP Clint Escamis and his solid support cast of JC Recto, Cy Cuenco and the returning Cyril Gonzales.
It won’t be long until EJ Sapasap joins them among the talk of the town.
READ: Cardinals show there's more to them than Escamis in gritty opener
In his first NCAA game, the rookie out of Tarlac balled out as he fired a team high 16 points on an ultra-efficient 7-10 shooting from the field off the bench, which went along four rebounds in the Cardinals’ thrilling 90-89 win over the Lyceum Pirates in the Season 101 opener last Wednesday.
Not bad for someone who admitted that he was ‘lost’ to start the game.
“Nung una siyempre, hindi ko alam ang gagawin ko, sa mga positioning, ganun, medyo nabigla din ako pero nagtiwala lang ako sa mga coaches, sa mga teammates ko kung anong gustong pagawa nila sa akin,” Sapasap said.
“Willing naman ako sumunod sa kanila, at sanay naman ako sa mga ganun.”
But when he finally started to get his groove, there was no stopping him.
The Cardinals certainly needed every ounce of offense from the 21-year-old as the quartet of Escamis, Recto, Cuenco and Gonzales combined to shoot 19-of-64 from the field in their opener.
And he has that clutch genes in him as well as he scored Mapua’s last field goal of the game which put them ahead 89-87 with a minute to go in second overtime.
“Nung timeout, binigyan ako ng green light ng mga coaches na kung open ako, drive-an ko, so di ko naman sila binigo,” he said, while stating that he believes there’s a lot of things for him to improve on come their next game on Saturday against Arellano.
“Siguro kailangan ko pa dagdagan. 50 [percent palang ang grade ko sa sarili ko].”
Sapasap gave credit to his veterans, particularly in Escamis and Gonzales for building his confidence up – stating that the two are always in his ears in the build-up to their Season 101 campaign.
“Lagi niya [Clint Escamis] akong kinakausap. Rookie ako at siya patapos na so lagi niya akong ginaguide,” he said.
“Pati si Cyril, lagi kong tinatanong, anong pwede kong gawin, anong pwede kong ma-contribute at yun, sabi lang nila magtiwala ka lang sa sarili mo, kasi kami may tiwala kami sayo.”
READ: Cyril Gonzales vows to go all out in homecoming for Mapua
While there’s a certain type of pressure in being the newest addition to the defending champions, Sapasap is brushing it off knowing that in this squad, he’s one of the few men who haven’t tasted glory just yet.
“Hindi ko na iniisip yung last year [na defending champion kami], tapos na yun at tyaka sila yun,” he said.
“Gusto kong tumulong sa panibagong henerasyon na maka-abot din kami sa finals kasi gusto ko rin mag-champion.”
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