San Beda University finally broke out of a two-game slump in the NCAA Season 99 men's basketball tournament, carving out a crucial 81-71 victory against Emilio Aguinaldo College on Sunday.
Prior to that, the Red Lions were reeling over back-to-back heartbreaking losses to lower seed teams Arellano University and San Sebastian College-Recoletos to momentarily slip out of the Final Four picture.
Those two losses ignited the fire within the Red Lions as they spent the past days gearing up for the Generals, who were also out to boost their own semifinals bid.
"After ng dalawang talo namin, grabe. Monday at Tuesday dapat wala kaming practice pero biglang nagpa-practice si Coach (Yuri Escueta). Akala namin papagusapan lang namin ‘yung mga viewing pero grabe, patayan pala," Royo recalled in jest.
"Hindi namin inexpect ‘yun sa dalawang araw. Thankful din kami doon sa practice kasi nagbunga rin naman."
(After our two losses, it was a lot. We weren't supposed to practice on Monday and Tuesday but Coach called for a practice. I though we were just going to talk about viewing but it was a hard one... We didn't expect two those two days. But we're thankful for the practice because it bore fruit.")
San Beda's bench worked its wonder in the victory with Royo churning out 13 points while Jomel Puno finished with a double-double outing of 11 markers and 10 boards. Jacob Cortez led all scorers after putting together 15 points while James Payosing and Clifford Jopia chipped in 14 and 13 apiece as San Beda.
And Royo, who stepped up for team captain Peter Alfaro who saw limited minutes today, said the coaches never lacked in reminding them to always be ready.
"Sabi lang ni Coach na kaming nasa bench ay dapat ready lang lagi," Royo added.
"Alam naman nila kung kailan kami gagamitin sa mga laro so ‘yun lang, sinimulan namin sa practice. Ginawa ko lang din ‘yung role ko sa team as a point guard."
("Coach said that the players off the bench should always be ready... They know when we will be used in the game so we just set the tone from practice. I just played my role as a point guard.")
San Beda head coach Yuri Escueta, meanwhile, stressed every game matters from this point on for San Beda, especially with other teams racing to get a spot in the playoff round.
"Lahat ng games ngayon ay crucial so this is a good win for us. Coming into the game, as a team, we just said that we will take it one game at a time for the next seven games," Escueta shared.
"So we have to give it our all. So for the next seven games, all in kami. Lahat ng games ngayon ay importante."
("All of our games now are crucial so this is a good win for us. Coming into the game, as a team, we just said that we will take it one game at a time for the next seven games... So we have to give it our all. So for the next seven games, we're all in. All of our games are important.")
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
