For University of Perpetual Help System DALTA, all eyes have been on graduating Jielo Razon and young guns Jun Roque and Cyrus Nitura in their ongoing campaign in the NCAA Season 99 men's basketball tournament.
But another player has silently been making some key contributions for the ALTAs.
Fourth-year player Christian Pagaran is currently the second leading scorer for the Las Piñas crew, averaging 12.86 points while also tallying 5.29 rebounds, 1.14 blocks, 1.29 steals, and 0.86 assists in seven games, which saw him come off the bench in all occasions.
Perpetual head coach Myk Saguiguit said his veteran wingman lets his game speak for itself.
“Silent assassin eh. Kahit saan ‘yan, kahit sa amin sa Perpetual, hindi mo makakausap ‘yan. Tahimik lang pero he’s getting the damage done,” Saguiguit said on the heels of their 74-59 win against Letran on Sunday.
“Ang galing ng batang ‘yan. Offensively and defensively ang sipag.”
(“He’s a silent assassin. Everywhere he goes, even with us at Perpetual, you won’t be able to speak to him. He’s always quiet, but he’s getting the damage done…. He’s a really talented kid. Offensively and defensively, he works hard.”)
Pagaran is playing a crucial role in the ALTAs sudden surge in the tournament as they have now won two games in a row to improve to 3-4 after a flat start to the season.
Pagaran churned out 14 points, three rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and one steal against San Sebastian last Friday while his 12 markers, five boards, three swats, and two denials helped the ALTAs pull off the win against the Knights.
His output complemented the stellar performances from their usual starters led by Roque and Razon.
Sophomore Roque is the team's top scorer through three weeks, averaging 13.29 points on top of 7.29 rebounds, 2.29 assists, 1.71 steals, and 0.57 blocks while the veteran Razon is putting up 10.33 markers and 5.33 boards.
And as Perpetual looks to continue this momentum, Saguiguit is glad to see everyone from their bench contribute.
“Happy to get these back-to-back wins and [we're] hoping to continue the streak. Masaya, kasi lahat ng pinagusapan namin sa practices namin ay nakita namin on the court,” Saguiguit bared.
(“Happy to get these back-to-back wins and hoping to continue the streak. I’m glad, because everything we spoke about in our practices, we saw on the court.”)
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
