By MARK REY MONTEJO
For La Salle cat-quick guard Jacob Cortez, it was a grand return to University of Santo Tomas’ Quadricentennial Pavilion and a memorable UAAP debut.
Cortez made sure his first game for the school where his father Mike launched his well-decorated career would be a talked about for days OR even years by coming up with a stellar performance highlighted by two straight inside incursions, an assist to Mason Amos and another great play that saw draw an offensive foul.
“It feels good to play in QPav. I used to practice here. I remember this 4am practice and even arriving here, I saw the students doing PE and I visualized myself before in that situation,” recalled the 23-year-old Cortez, who moved up from San Beda to La Salle last year.
Like a thief in the night, Cortez also had a steal in the crucial moments that enabled the Green Archers to begin their redemption tour in style.
Cortez’s return to the Tigers’ den was only triumphant, but also nostalgic, one that evokes his stellar days as a Tiger Cub.
“But yeah, it feels good to be here. It feels good to play for LaSalle and it feels great that we came out with the win today,” he added.
The 5-foot-11 floor general finished with 16 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals in more than 24 minutes of action – a superb statline that complimented the double-double output of La Salle skipper Mike Phillips.
According to Cortez, who anchored the Red Lions to their NCAA Season 99 title win, one of the factors that helped him to gel with the system is the bond with his teammates and coaches which was evidently manifested on the floor.
“Just by joining practices and then spending time with the guys off the court and then this year we did a lot of bonding, and I was just getting to know my teammates, coaches and not just on the court, but off the court too,” Cortez continued.
“So I think that translates to the game on the court and you can see that we struggle a lot, but it’s all about moving on to the next play and just sticking together like what Mike said,” he added.
After a week-long respite, Cortez and the Taft-based squad try to make it two in a row when they battle University of Santo Tomas on Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Cortez is up for a tough man-to-man test as he goes up against fellow elite guard Forthsky Padrigao, who previously served a one-game suspension in the Tigers’ opening demolition of the reigning champions University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons.
“But yeah, it’s all about encouraging those, especially those who are struggling. Because I know if I’m struggling, I want someone to be there for me as well,” he concluded.
