YUKIEN Andrada came into the game with his mind locked in on ending San Beda's two-game slump even though his heart is somewhere else.
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing for him and the Red Lions.
Andrada played the best game in the NCAA Season 101 as he was on the forefront of the Red Lions’ 80-76 win over the St. Benilde Blazers return to winning ways and stay on top of Group B in the process.
READ: San Beda repeats over Benilde to keep Group B supremacy in S101
The sixth overall pick in the PBA Season 50 draft fired 23 points on an ultra-efficient 8-of-11 shooting from the field and he bared that he was doing it for his older brother, former La Salle big man and PBA 3x3 mainstay in Yutien Andrada who once again went under the knife on Friday.
“Ang main motivation ko is yung kuya ko, he’s at the hospital right now,” Andrada bared.
“He just got open heart surgery. That really motivated me to play really well. I owe this game to him.”
The elder Andrada’s health issues have been well documented, as Yutien also had surgery last year in a different part of his heart.
The good news is that the surgery was a success and his brother is now currently recovering from the procedure.
“Yes, last year he got abdominal aortic aneurysm, this time naman he got thoracic [aortic] aneurysm. Last week pa siya nasa hospital,” he shared.
“Then earlier kanina nag-message yung kuya ko na he got opened up parin kasi parang may fluid sa may heart niya. Right now he’s in the CCU (Cardiac Care Unit) and he’s recovering right now.”
Andrada’s explosion was a much needed one for the Red Lions who were coming off consecutive losses, first a triple-overtime heartbreaker against the Perpetual Altas, before a shocking loss to the struggling Lyceum Pirates compounded their woes.
In those two games, Andrada was just averaging 9.5 points while shooting a woeful 31.5 percent from the field.
The sweet-shooting forward couldn’t be more grateful for the trust that he continues to get from his teammates despite his struggles.
“Even though I’ve been playing [bad], I think I’m having a shooting slump these past few games, my coaches and my teammates kept believing in me and I think that’s what happened in this game,” he said.
“I just had that mentality to never stop shooting and I appreciate that for them. They were the ones who really motivated me in this game."
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