Perpetual Help Altas after beating the San Beda Red Lions in the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball tournament. NCAA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Mark Omega hauled down a season-high 22 rebounds to help Perpetual take down San Beda on Saturday in the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball tournament.
What’s more impressive is that Omega hasn’t been himself the past couple of games due to personal reasons, as per his coach Myk Saguiguit.
“Mark has been off for two games. He has been going through some things. I talked to him before the game and I told him the team needs him,” Saguiguit said after the Altas’ 75-72 overtime win over the Red Lions.
“Earlier, when we got here, I felt his energy when I saw him and I knew that he would do a good job,” he added.
Perpetual Help has been the top rebounding in the league season thanks to Omega, who is the sixth-best player in that department averaging nine boards per outing.
Omega said his coaches and teammates have been a source of encouragement this season as he aims to further improve and help the Altas win more games.
“I’m blessed to have these stats but in my next game, I will have to give more effort. There are still a lot of missed opportunities for me so I will double my effort,” he said.
“In the past games I was thinking of a lot of negative things but now I’m okay because my coaches and teammates motivated me,” he added.