BY John Miles Arcenal
AFTER the University of the Philippines notched its third straight win following a 0-2 start, against Katipunan rival Ateneo no less, foreign-student-athlete Francis Nnoruka believed their latest triumph wasn’t a surprise.
It was just the outcome of all the hard work they had put in.
READ: Streaking UP puts first blemish on Ateneo's perfect start
The 6-foot-9 Nigerian powered the Fighting Maroons with a career-high 28 points, nine rebounds, four steals, and a block to hand the Blue Eagles their first loss of the season.
“With the preparations that we made in practice, I wasn’t really doubting that we could win against Ateneo,” Nnoruka told SPIN.ph.
“It was more of a confidence boost for me when I figured that they haven’t lost any game so far. That made me play harder and do everything extra to make sure we come out with the win.”
But more than the standout stats, it was Nnoruka’s continued confidence that made itself evident, especially against the Blue Eagles' formidable frontline of rising star Kymani Ladi and Nigerian FSA Divine Adili.
“I’m trying to be consistent. It’s not easy to be consistent, but if you believe in the work you put in, then you’re gonna be confident that you can be consistent,” he said, as he is now averaging 14 points and 8.8 rebounds in their first five games.
“I’ll just keep working and building my confidence to be consistent.”
UP fights together
Despite his breakout, Nnoruka still credited the win to UP’s collective effort - and in particular, his growing connection with frontcourt partner Gani Stevens.
“It wasn’t just me, it was the whole team with Jacob [Bayla] playing defense even without making any buckets, Gani too, and everybody playing good basketball. And our coaches made good decisions. That was really impressive today,” he said.
“We’re good, we have this connection because we spend time together. It feels like he’s a brother in the team because we’re a whole family, and we have connections with everybody, especially Gani.”
Still, even after standing tall in the rivalry, Nnoruka knows the job is far from finished.
As he put it, looking ahead to their remaining Round 1 assignments against FEU and La Salle, “It feels really great to come out on top. But the job is not done - we still have to play them again, and La Salle’s game is coming next week. We gotta stay locked in and prepared.”
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