Rapid Telecast

NCAA: Jacob Cortez says playing with ‘no pressure’ led to career game

Jacob Cortez San Beda NCAA

San Beda guard Jacob Cortez.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—For the first time in his career, San Beda’s Jacob Cortez played at Mall of Asia Arena and had quite the debut on Tuesday.

Under the bright lights of the NCAA Final Four, Cortez dazzled with a career-high 28 points to keep the Red Lions’ season alive.

What led to his best game to date was his dad’s advice on how to approach the game.

“No pressure. Like my dad always tells me, ‘play, have fun and just play your game.’ I got no pressure at all,” said the sweet-shooting guard after anchoring San Beda’s rout over Lyceum, 89-68, that forced a knockout for the last finals berth.

“Of course, I’m happy because we’re still alive but 1701194450 we’re focused on our next game which is a do-or-die. They’ll make adjustments, we’re going to make adjustments so it was important that we were focused today.”

Cortez’s heroics pushed San Beda’s win streak to five while also helping the Red Lions move a game away from their first finals appearance since 2019.

Jacob Cortez.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

“Jacob knows how to play. I’m letting him be. He knows how to pick his spots. Whatever the defense is giving him, he’s going to take. He knows the reads. I trust him on that. His teammates trust him to make the right, simple and easiest decisions,” said coach Yuri Escueta.

Cortez, who’s dubbed as “The Cool Cub,” a play on his dad’s “Cool Cat” moniker during his playing days, also shared credited his teammates

With the Red Lions’ confidence in Cortez, the latter was given more room to perform on a different level.

“This isn’t just me. Nygel (Gonzales) and Yuks (Andrada) had a good game so it’s not just me. I feel like if we focus on just myself, it’ll be a disadvantage because my teammates’ confidence in me is high as well. I think that also played a big role in my game.”

Enoch Valdez, who played on the other end of the court for the Pirates, was even in awe of Cortez’s scoring display.



Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.


Your subscription has been successful.

“I really didn’t know what happened, then all of a sudden he scored 28. We’re really not going to win that way because he’s the one we should stop,” said Valdez.

Cortez will be tested anew on Friday when San Beda faces Lyceum one more time in a do-or-die duel at Araneta Coliseum with the winner taking on top seed Mapua in a best-of-three final.

Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our  Twitter, & Facebook

We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.

For all the latest Basketball News Click Here 

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! Rapidtelecast.com is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – abuse@rapidtelecast.com. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
Exit mobile version