It has been quite an eventful journey for Jose Rizal University in NCAA Season 98, which saw the team's promising campaign disrupted after an 18-day break due to COVID-19 as well as the incident involving its former player John Amores.
But the Heavy Bombers made sure to end their season on a positive note, dealing Colegio de San Juan de Letran its fifth loss and denying the Knights a top-seed finish ahead of the Final Four.
And head coach Louie Gonzalez said the players truly deserved the win, especially after the difficulties of this season.
"You wanted to get back that feeling, you wanted to get back on that winning note pero parang may pumipigil tapos marami pang nangyari and ako happy ako na we ended it this way kasi alam ko na 'yung mga players ko they deserve this," Gonzalez said.
"They deserve to win kasi kahit naman sobrang dami ng iniisip nila, hindi pa rin naman nagbabago 'yung performance nila sa practice namin."
According to Gonzalez, the Heavy Bombers shook off the pressure before heading to the match against the Knights as they were already out of contention days prior.
But even with not much on the line, JRU still came out with a big effort.
Ry Dela Rosa led JRU with 22 points highlighted with six triples while Marwin Dionisio starred late to finish with 16 markers, five boards, and three assists. Joshua Guiab was also on point, chipping in 14 points, eight rebounds, and four steals.
"Gusto ko nang i-release 'yung pressure sa kanila. I know it's been tough for these kids and I'm sure marami silang natutunan. Siguro the biggest change was, for today, what we're running is the same but again 'yung approach doon sa game ay mas nag-enjoy 'yung players ko," Gonzalez added.
"They played loose. They enjoyed each other. They're helping each other. They played as a unit."
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
