In first game after infamous benching, Sumang delivers for Red Warriors

In contrast to what happened the last time out, the University of the East’s top playmaker Roi Sumang received high fives and fist bumps from his teammates after helping the Red Warriors keep their hopes of making it to the Final Four round of the UAAP Season 77 men’s basketball tournament alive.

The 5-foot-8 Tondo native guard pumped in all of his nine points, including a pair of booming triples, in the payoff canto as he sparked a jarring 26-1 run, highlighted by 21 unanswered points, enabling UE to pull away for a 94-71 victory against erstwhile rampaging Far Eastern U on Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum.
 
After getting benched in their equally-important 64-55 stunner over National U last week for missing a team practice, Sumang came off the bench late in the opening frame and saw action for nearly 15 limited minutes but he was able to make his presence felt just when the Red Warriors needed him the most.

“I think with the minutes he played, he really played well especially in the fourth quarter,” noted UE coach Derrick Pumaren of Sumang, who teamed up with hulking Sierra Leone center Charles Mammie and skipper Bong Galanza in that decisive surge, leading to their third straight win and seventh overall against five setbacks, pulling one-game behind fourth-running National U which holds an 8-4 mark.

“I put him (Sumang) almost at the end of third quarter that’s why he stayed in and he played well. I’m happy for him that he really played well,” added Pumaren.

FEU coach Nash Racela, who returned to call the shots for the Tamaraws after missing the team’s last two games to serve his commitments with Gilas Pilipinas as one of its assistant coaches in the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain, admitted he was not surprised Pumaren fielded Sumang in an all-important match.

“We expected him to play minimal minutes. I also expected him to play good today after nu’ng mga issues nila. I think it (Sumang’s presence) mattered in the end game. Doon kami nag-start bumitaw nu’ng nag-run sila with Sumang,” he pointed out.

Pumaren stressed anew that his decision to bench Sumang against NU was “not an issue, but more of a disciplinary action. He knows he has to suffer doon sa consequences na ginawa niya,” added the mild-mannered UE coach. “But he showed up in our practice and he even practiced well. He’s been working hard. I think he showed up in the fourth quarter. He was able to settle down and hit two big three-point shots that kept him going already.”

Sumang, however, refused to be interviewed by sports scribes after emerging from the team's dug-out.

Although Sumang’s offensive contribution came just in the nick of time, Pumaren stressed it was still a total team effort.

“I must commend it was a total team effort. We really played as a team defensively. We tried to stop and contain FEU and that’s what we did. The boys really showed guts tonight, they refused to lose,” he shared.