Without top playmaker Kent Salado this NCAA Season 94, Arellano coach Jerry Codinera only had low expectations for his boys this year as all he wanted was to see some semblance of fight.
It turns out, the Chiefs have more than enough weapons in the shed to do just that.
A vital cog of that uprising is first-year player Maui Sera Josef who was the catalyst in Arellano’s 76-72 shocker over Perpetual to end the first round.
The Las Vegas-raised forward anchored the Chiefs’ fightback from 17 points down on his way to racking 14 points, three rebounds, a steal, and a block in the victory, including the go-ahead bucket with 1:13 to spare.
More importantly, Sera Josef’s defense frustrated Altas big man Prince Eze in the endgame that sent the latter’s 22-point, 25-rebound performance down the drain.
“I just needed to be sure to do a good job in containing him. It was a good matchup,” he said. That was enough for Sera Josef to be hailed as the Chooks-to-Go NCAA Press Corps Player of the Week, the last in the first round.
He beat out Eze and San Beda’s Calvin Oftana for the weekly citation handed out by print and online sportswriters covering the beat.
More than the individual accolade, what mattered more was Sera Josef helping Arellano finish the first round on a good note, keeping it in the thick of things in the Final Four.
“I was hoping na we could get more than three wins, pero ok na rin because this will make us motivated for the second round,” said Codinera.”‹