Former San Beda Red Cubs Albert Bordeos is fast becoming one of the go-to guys of the La Salle Greenhills.
He made his presence felt when the Greenies held their ground in the closing seconds, and fended off the Letran Squires, 64-63, to stretch their winning streak to five.
They drew 14 points from Bordeos as the Junior Blazers went on to move ahead at the leaderboard of the 93rd National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) junior basketball tournament.
“Sabi nina coach, kailangan nila ako dahil ako ang pinaka-beterano sa team. Kaya kailangan kong mag-step-up,” said Bordeos.
It’s been a long time since Bordeos last played a game in the NCAA. The last time he saw action was four years ago for the Red Cubs.
And that was before he moved to the University of Santo Tomas Tiger Cubs, and he finally found a new home with LSGH.
With the Greenies getting 12 points from Jacob Lao, they went on to move ahead of the Mapua Red Robins (4-0) in the lead.
It was a tough outing for Bordeos and the Junior Blazers.
After Bordeos missed two crucial charities for the Greenies in the last 13.1 seconds, the Squires bungled two winning opportunities in the remaining 3.1 seconds.
That was when Stephen Tamayo mishandled a pass to teammate Kiefer Cordero in the last 3.1 seconds to force a turnover.
Former NU player Neil Tolentino forced a second turnover following a steal off Bordeos’ inbound. But he failed to convert at the buzzer after LSGH's Sidney Mosqueda got in the way.
Coach Marvin Bienvenida said it was quite a close call for the Junior Blazer after they scored for the last time in the remaining 2:49 off Inand Fornillos’ putback, 64-59.
“We got lucky. We placed ourselves in that situation,” said Bienvenida after the Greenies watched the Squires come back on attacks by Keith Peralta and Cordero.