JOSE Rizal University overcame a flat start and dominated the rest of the way after shackling San Sebastian 59-46 in the NCAA Season 101 on Wednesday at the Playtime Filoil Center in San Juan.
The Heavy Bombers fell to an early 15-3 hole against the Stags in the first quarter but they turned to their defense to slowly get back in the game - keeping San Sebastian without a single field goal in an eight minute stretch to bridge the first and second quarters and take control of the game.
From that point on, it was all JRU as Sean Salvador and Justin Lozano took turns in carrying the offense for the squad from Kalentong who survived playing without veteran guard Shawn Argente who was serving a one-game suspension for being ejected in their loss to St. Benilde
The Heavy Bombers improved to 3-2.
READ: Young, hungry JRU proving it can't be overlooked anymore in S101
"Siguro nag-reflect yung pagkawala ni Shawn Argente siyempre siya yung leader namin. Yung nag-start na point guard samin is Yuri [Duque], he's a rookie and he's not that familiar sa role ng being a starter, he's usually coming off the bench," JRU head coach Nani Epondulan explained of their flat start.
"But luckily, na-reiterate namin nung halftime yung maturity na hinahanap namin at lumabas na kanina," he added.
Epondulan credited his team's effort on the defensive end, noting that it allowed them to stay afloat amid their horrible shooting in the first half where they just made 22 percent of their shots.
"We're trying to limit yung kalaban namin to 60 points per game. Nung first quarter, kahit eight points lang ang [iniscore] namin, good defense parin kami pero yun nga nagkakaproblema kami sa offense namin, we needed to execute," h continued.
"Ayun nalimit namin sila ng second, third and fourth tapos yung offense namin na-execute narin namin."
Salvador bucked a slow start to finish with 22 points on 5-of-14 shooting from downtown to lead the Heavy Bombers while Lozano chipped in 11.
Yuri Duque and Allan Laurenaria made the most of their damage in the first half to keep the Heavy Bombers above water in the first half. They finished with eight and seven markers respectively.
Nobody from coach Rob Labagala's side in the Stags breached double digits with Jhuniel dela Rama leading the charge with nine points, 15 rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Fellow super rookie Ian Cuajao was a marked man all night long, missing all six shots from downtown to finish with six points for the now 1-4 Stags.
The scores:
JRU 59 – Salvador 22, Lozano 11, Duque 8, Laurenaria 7, Panapanaan 5, Garupil 2, Sarmiento 2, Benitez 2, Peñaverde 0, Castillo 0, Herrera 0
SAN SEBASTIAN 46 – Dela Rama 9, Castor 8, Ricio 8, Cuajao 6, Gabat 4, Nepacena 4, Dimaunahan 4, Velasco 2, Cruz 1, Gomez De Liaño 0, Cabilla 0
Quarters: 8-16, 25-23, 44-32, 59-46
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