Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Far Eastern University lost its opener against defending champion La Salle but another story was Ron Dennison’s personal battle against the crowd in white-and-green inside Mall of Asia Arena Sunday.
Dennison was the focus of the La Salle faithful’s hatred, which stemmed from an on-court scuffle involving the Tamaraws and Green Archers in the Kadayawan Cup a few weeks back.
The graduating guard said the jeers only fueled him to play better and he played his best game yet, putting up a career-high 21 points to go along with seven boards, and four assists.
“Those boos were added motivation for me,” said Dennison, whose previous career-high of 13 points also came against La Salle, in Filipino. “People close to me know that whenever the crowd is against me I play usually harder.”
Dennison was also efficient from the floor going 10-of-14 overall and 9-of-12 in the two-point region.
Also, Dennison’s 21 points are almost half of his total production from Season 79. He only scored 45 points the entire season last year.
“I want to show to the La Salle crowd that I can play cleanly,” said Dennnison. “I think they saw that. They aren’t blind for all I know.”