LETRAN star Mark Cruz doesn’t mind if he continues to come off the bench so long as the Knights sustain their resurgence in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
The pint-sized playmaker didn’t start for the first time this season, but the Knights managed to break a two-game skid with a 63-61 squeaker over Emilio Aguinaldo College on Wednesday at The Arena in San Juan.
“Sa akin, accepted ko naman `yung role na yun,” Cruz said after the game. “Kahit off the bench ako or starter, walang problema sa akin.”
Coach Caloy Garcia decided to make Cruz the team’s sixth man to get scoring punch and spunk from the team’s second group that had been lacking in the past few games.
“Ang naging kulang namin yung energy off the bench,” he said. “So (Mark) provided that to us.”
Cruz remained relatively effective, tallying 12 points -- although shooting just 3-of-12 from the field, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal in 23 minutes.
The fourth-year point guard was also part of Letran’s five-man unit that finished the game and held off a late rally by the Generals.
“As long as mag-work yung teamwork nung team, gagawin ko ito,” Cruz said.
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