Perez makes up for poor showing by keeping Jawbreakers’ title bid alive

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

CJ Perez was determined to make up for his shortcomings after his pedestrian eight-point performance in Game 1 of the 2018 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup Finals kept him wide awake that night.

However, his eagerness to make amends almost got him into trouble early after picking up two quick fouls in Game 2 on Thursday.

“That was so frustrating,” said Perez in Filipino, referring to his 3-of-11 shooting in the  opener. “I couldn’t make my shots. All I could think about was how I could make up for it the next game.”

“I think I was just oozing with energy and that’s why I picked those fouls. While I was on the bench, I was telling myself that once I get back on he court, I’ll help the team.”

Perez dropped 15 points, seven rebounds, and four assists and helped Zark’s Burger-Lyceum equalize the best-of-three championship series with a 98-90 victory over Che’Lu Bar and Grill-San Sebastian.

The newly-minted D-League though, gave the lion’s share of the credit to the Jawbreakers’ defense, which limited the high-octane Revellers to just 37-percent shoting clip.

“We really focused on our defense. The team’s effort showed in the game and that fueled our defense against them,” he said.

With the series going the distance, the Jawbreakers are looking to sustain this intensity heading into the winner-take-all Game 3 on Tuesday.

“Our level of energy and effort should not go down. As always, we’ll do our best to get Game 3,” he said.