ANTIPOLO—Looking at Jaydee Tungcab’s stats alone won’t tell how big of a factor he played in University of the Philippines’ win over University of the East in the UAAP Season 82 men’s basketball tournament on Saturday.
Tungcab had just four points on 1-of-3 shooting from the field, two rebounds, one steal and a turnover in close to 23 minutes of play.
His impact, however, greatly showed on Rey Suerte’s numbers as the Red Warriors’ chief gunner was held to his worst game yet.
Tungcab was tasked to slow down Suerte, who came into the game averaging a league-best 22.8 points per outing.
He ended up surprising himself.
“I was just told in practice that I will be in the starting five to guard Rey Suerte. It was just then and there that I thought about how to guard him. I only know that his strong side is his right and he’s not as effective going to his left,” said Tungcab in Filipino after helping the Fighting Maroons hold on for a 62-56 victory.
“I actually didn’t think that I’m going to lock him down and he would only score four points because it’s already a given that he’s a scorer and he’s going to score against me,” added Tungcab, who also hit the biggest shot of the game when his lone basket—a triple—sealed his team’s third straight win. “I just want to thank the Lord that I was able to stop him. I just did my job.”
With Tungcab hounding him, Suerte struggled mightily finishing with only four points on 2-of-15 shooting from the field while also turning the ball over four times in over 35 minutes of action.
“His long game brilliance of defending Rey Suerte helped us a lot. It’s just the principle that we had in our team – whoever is it, whoever is doing well, is going to have the time. That was what happened. He was able to give back to the trust that I gave him,” said UP head coach Bo Perasol.
Known more for his scoring, Tungcab has embraced the role of being a dependable defensive stopper when he transferred to UP after playing his first two seasons with Adamson.
“It’s a bit challenging because it’s not that easy to play good defense but I accept the role given to me to help the team.”