LA Salle has had National U's number since the preseason that somehow, someway, scripts had to be flipped, right?
And that's exactly what happened last Sunday when the Bulldogs finally claimed the scalp of the Green Archers, 82-78, in the UAAP Season 88 men's basketball tournament.
READ: Figueroa-led NU sends La Salle to third loss in last four games
"Motivation namin yung sa preseason kasi hindi kami nananalo sa La Salle," shared Reinhard Jumamoy, as the Jhocson crew badly wanted to get one over their Taft counterparts.
La Salle always came on top whenever it met NU, from the Piña Cup in Ormoc to the PlayTime Cares Filoil EcoOil 18th Preseason Cup that it really left a bad taste on the mouths of the Bulldogs.
But in those frustrations also came wisdom, one that the gold-and-blue took to heart in finally taking down the Green Archers
"Dala lang namin yung lessons sa mga pagkatalo namin sa kanila sa game na ito kasi alam namin yun yung mga kailangan naming itama," said Jumamoy.
Rein-hard work
The third-year guard was also a big reason for making that happen, scoring all of his eight points in the payoff period, but more than that, being stout on the defensive end that stifled the fancied competition.
That was in full view in the late stages, first when Jumamoy stole the ball from under Mike Phillips' rebound after Jake Figueroa's split from the line with 12.9 seconds, and once again when he foiled La Salle's late gasp when he stepped in the passing lane to Jacob Cortez which forced Lebron Jhames Daep to turn the ball over and suck the life out of the green-and-white.
Rightfully so, the Cebuano guard is taking great pride in these strides, noting: "Laging sinasabi sa akin ng coaches ko na I have to improve on my defense."
Now that it's all bearing fruit, Jumamoy can only attribute this to (Rein)hard work.
"Ginawa ko lang yung role ko kasi yun na ang tumatak sa isip ko, na depensa muna bago opensa," said the 5-foot-11 playmaker, as this buy-in from players like him has enabled NU to continue pacing the tournament at 5-1.
But Jumamoy knows there's still a lot of basketball to be played, and it's up to the Bulldogs to show that this first round success is no fluke.
"Paghihirapan pa rin namin kasi malayo pa kami sa goal namin," he said.
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