Bryan Sajonia atoned for his cold offense for much of the game by draining the dagger triple to lift San Beda University past Colegio de San Juan de Letran, 66-64, in the NCAA Season 100 on Tuesday.
The star transferee, who was shooting 2-of-11 from the field before that trey, soared over the defense of Jimboy Estrada then knocked down the clutch three-pointer as the Red Lions regained their winning ways and improved to 4-3.
San Beda also snapped the three-game winning streak of the Knights, who now fell to a 5-3.
“Sinasabi ko sa players na ‘wag naming isipin ‘yun, ‘yung result ‘pag natalo kasi masyado silang nagwo-worry,” San Beda head coach Yuri Escueta said.
“Sabi ko isipin nila ‘yung opportunity ‘pag nanalo so ayun lang ‘yung sinabi ko sa kanila and nakita naman [sa laro].”
[I was telling my players not to think about it. The result when we lose is that they worry about it too much. I said just think of the opportunity to win. That's all I said and you could see it in their play.]
Sajonia’s heroics finished what Jomel Puno started out for the Red Lions.
The 6-foot-6 banger accounted for nine points in a 17-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarter as San Beda erased a 10-point deficit and turned it into a 58-51 cushion. That stretch saw the Knights go on a scoring drought for nearly eight minutes.
But Letran leaned on Estrada in the dying minutes as the do-it-all guard powered a 13-5 blast capped with a tough floater that gave them a slim 64-63 lead in the final 50 seconds.
Sajonia rose to the occasion and sank a booming triple to win it for the Red Lions, who were coming off a heartbreaking defeat against Arellano.
Puno churned out a career-high 22 points alongside 10 rebounds and two assists while Sajonia was one of four Red Lions to finish with eight points each. Yukien Andrada, Daniel Celzo, and Menard Songcuya all contributed the same as Sajonia.
Kevin Santos also poured in a career-high in the loss with 18 points to go with nine rebounds and three assists. Estrada added 16 markers in the loss.
The scores:
San Beda 66 - Puno 22, Celzo 8, Sajonia 8, Songcuya 8, Andrada 8, Payosing 6, Tagle 3, Estacio 3, Gonzales 0, Calimag 0, Tagala 0, Royo 0.
Letran 64 - Santos 18, Estrada 16, Cuajao 12, Nunag 7, Montecarlo 5, Miller 4, Monje 2, Jumao-os 0, Go 0, Dimaano 0, Baliling 0.
Quarters: 20-16, 30-32, 49-51, 66-64.
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—JMB, GMA Integrated News
