By ANGELO JACINTO
SAN Beda head coach Yuri Escueta doesn’t look and sound too surprised after Jacob Cortez’s exceptional shooting performance on a career-defining night.
Cortez scored 28 points on 9-11 shooting, making all five of his two-pointers and four of his six attempts from downtown as the Red Lions lived to fight another day following an 89-68 win over the Lyceum Pirates in the NCAA Season 99 semifinals last Tuesday.
READ Jacob Cortez hits 28 as San Beda drags Lyceum to sudden-death
As impressive as it was, Escueta said he was confident of his third-year guard’s skills, adding that shooting 28 points with only 11 shots is a great indicator of a player who truly knows how to play the game.
“Hinahayaan ko lang naman siya e. He knows how to pick his spots. Whatever the defense is giving him, he’s gonna take,” Escueta said.
“He knows the reads, alam niya yan. I trust him with that, his teammates trust that he’s gonna make the right decision and the simple ones, the easiest ones.”
Cortez isn’t too focused on his numbers, saying the most important thing is that they are still in the contest after an up-and-down season.
“Happy dahil buhay pa kami, but now naka-focus lang kami sa next game, do-or-die game, they’re gonna make adjustments, we're gonna make adjustments but it’s important na mag-focus kami,” he said.
The sweet-shooting guard also credited his teammates' ability to find their shots, making their offense truly unpredictable.
Yukien Andrade and Nigel Gonzales each had 12 points while five others scored six points apiece to highlight San Beda’s impressive support cast.
“Hindi lang ako e. Today all my teammates did well, they shot well. Si Nigel had a good game, Yuks had a good game,” he said.
“It’s not just me kasi if mag-focus lang sa akin, disadvantage yun cause grabe rin ang confidence ng teammates ko so I think that plays a big role sa big ko.”
Cortez is expecting Lyceum defenders to gang up on him.
However, with his dad Mike “The Cool Cat” Cortez on his ears to settle him down, he doesn’t feel any pressure coming into the game.
“No, walang pressure sakin,” he said.
“Like what my dad always tells me, mag laro ka lang, have fun and just play your game. No pressure.”
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