By Dugout Philippines
MANILA—Adrian Nocum fearlessly launching a pivotal shot over the 7-foot-3 Bol Manute Bol and banking in the dagger looper would go down as one of the highlight reels of the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup.
Nocum’s daring attack against the towering TNT import with the fight-marred game on the line gave wings to Rain or Shine as it overcame the ejection of reinforcement Jaylen Johnson halfway through the fourth to put together a 112-109 victory for a 2-0 card.
“Sinubukan ko talaga, chinallenge. Ayun nga, talagang sobrang laki, ilang beses ako nabutata. Yung last, talagang tinaasan ko yung tira ko, pumasok,” shared the high-flying guard of the shot against Bol that gave ROS a three-point cushion with 9 seconds left.
The high-flying Nocum fired 20 points, including seven in the fourth quarter, and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds plus three assists to lead the ROS locals’ gritty performance without Johnson, who was tossed out for trading blows with TNT’s Glenn Khobuntin with still 6:20 left.
With this electrifying performance, the ROS guard unanimously earned the nod as the PBA Press Corps’ Player of the Week for the period March 18 to 22.
Nocum beat Terrafirma’s Paolo Hernandez, Titan’s Joshua Munzon and last week’s awardee CJ Cansino of Meralco for the weekly citation given by the men and women covering the PBA beat.
“Credit sa sistema ng mga coaches, sumunod lang kami sa sistema at credit din sa mga teammates ko na talagang hindi sumuko,” he said after their tough stand.
“Siyempre talagang wala akong ibang inisip kundi talagang manalo lang. Ayun, kahit nagbunga effort ko, effort ng team at nakuha namin panalo,” he added.
