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San Beda’s Cortez downplays Game 2 performance against Mapua: ‘It’s all about sticking together’
San Beda’s Cortez downplays Game 2 performance against Mapua: ‘It’s all about sticking together’
Rom Anzures,
ABS-CBN News
Published Dec 11, 2023 06:20 PM PHT
San Beda’s Jacob Cortez. Photo by Mark Demayo, ABS -CBN News.
MANILA — San Beda University was close to suffering yet another collapse despite holding a double-digit advantage in the NCAA Finals.
In Sunday's Game 2 of the NCAA Season 99 Men’s Basketball Finals, the Red Lions, who were once ahead by 15 in the first half, saw their lead disappear and almost allowed Mapua University to complete a sweep.
Fortunately for the Red Lions, Jacob Cortez came to the rescue.
The sweet-shooting point guard scored eight of his game-high 21 points in the final 10 minutes of action, including two three-point bombs that allowed them to overtake and eventually pull away yet again in the payoff period.
For SBU head coach Yuri Escueta, it was Cortez’s leadership and composure that inspired his squad to take home Game 2, especially since this is a statement performance after a horrid Game 1 outing from the guard.
“Si Jacob, after a bad game like that, you know he’s special,” Escueta told reporters following the game.
“Yung mga comeback games na ganito, after a game wherein he struggled. That kid is special. He doesn’t want to lose, he told me at the start of the ballgame,” he added.
But for this version of San Beda’s ‘King Lion’, it was not his heroics, but rather the team’s collective effort that allowed the Mendiola-based squad to avoid a series sweep.
“It’s not just me,” Cortez emphasized.
“The other guys stepped up as well during this game. Not [just] offensively, but defensively, of course.”
Jomel Puno and Yuki Andrada, who both scored nine markers each, also stepped up, especially during their final quarter fightback, and this, for Cortez, was the key to their crucial victory.
“We stuck together after the third quarter, after we were down after a big lead,” he said.
And in the decider, Cortez said that these kinds of efforts are what it will take for them to clinch their first title in five years.
“It’s all about just sticking together as a team.”
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