By REYNALD MAGALLON
BACOLOD CITY — Justin Arana finally tasted victory again when Team Greats essayed a 142-133 win over Team Stalwarts — a breath of fresh air from the struggles of his mother team Converge in the ongoing 2024 PBA Philippine Cup where it remained winless through five games.
The FiberXers big man flexed his might inside the paint and was a clear-cut Most Valuable Player in the RSJ game after scattering 36 big points apart from eight rebounds, an assist and a steal.
“Sa pagbalik ko sa PBA syempre malaking boost ito kahit sabihin nating All-Star syempre yung confidence mo mabubuo at mabubuo pa rin kapag maganda yung nilalaro mo,” said Arana.
“Tinitake ko lang ito as parang pampataas talaga ng kumpyansa,” added the sophomore big man who was also with Converge teammate Alec Stockton.
Stockton also had his share of the spotlight with nine points and six assists including a few highlight plays in the second half.
Arana said the motivation for the splendid performance was to simply keep his record unblemished in the RSJ games. He was also part of Team Greats last year that also won convincingly 158-138.
“Syempre motivated rin talaga kami kasi ayaw naming matalo kami mindset ko ayokong mag 1-1 gusto ko 2-0 talaga,” he added.
And Arana also has the same faith and motivation for Converge which is hoping to turn things around in the second half of their elimination schedule.
“Willing pa rin kami manalo and syempre motivated pa rin kami kasi kami yung nasa pinaka baba. Kailangan lang namin mag double effort siguro, hopefully, makuha na rin namin soon yung panalo,” he added.
