DESPITE going scoreless in his UAAP debut, one-time Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. MVP Jaybie Mantilla was as happy as a kid in a candy store, after seeing one of his hoop dreams come true on Sept. 4, 2019 when he finally got to suit up for the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons.
Plucked from the Cebu Sharks to play a one-and-done season for the Maroons in the UAAP men's basketball tournament Season 82, the pride of Suba-Pasil was still in shock of what just transpired when VoxPop Cebu got in touch with him.
"I'm very happy, so happy that it feels like I'm in shock that I got to play in the UAAP. It was my first time to play at this level and also, at the Araneta Coliseum," said Mantilla, a product of the University of San Jose-Recoletos.
Although the 2017 Cesafi MVP failed to put up a single point, he still managed to play his role, injecting the Fighting Maroons with energy off the bench. UP eventually vanquished the resilient Far Eastern University Tamaraws, 61-55.
"I don't mind that I didn't get to score so long as we won and I got to learn. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play for UP," Mantilla added.
Mantilla and the rest of his teammates also came away with a hard lesson in their very first game of the season.
"We have to sustain our defense from start to finish. We really need to work on that end of the floor. We can't really worry about our offense too much because that will come if we play hard on the other side of the ball," Mantilla said.
The other Cesafi MVP to see action in the UAAP this season, Rey Suerte, had a much stellar debut as he finished with a team-leading 23 points in the University of the East's 95 -82 loss to the University of Santo Tomas. (JNP)
