Yukien Andrada is catching fire at the right time for San Beda University as the Red Lions staged a resurgence in NCAA Season 99 behind two crucial wins in a row last week.
Andrada was a key cog in San Beda's back-to-back victories against fellow semis hopefuls De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and Jose Rizal University to help his team enter the Final Four picture with only a week left in the eliminations round.
With his heroics, which came after sitting out a pair of games due to a hamstring injury, Andrada was hailed as the Collegiate Press Corps NCAA Player of the Week.
The third-year player edged out Lyceum’s Enoch Valdez and Perpetual’s Jielo Razon for the weekly honors deliberated by the print and online covering the beat.
The six-foot-five forward opened his impressive week with a career-high 22 points against the Blazers on November 15, presiding over their pivotal 65-61 victory. He then followed it up with 18 points, three rebounds, and two steals in a 74-69 escape act against the Heavy Bombers.
Andrada said that he and his teammates are determined to finish strong and barge their way into another Final Four appearance.
“We talked about it for the past week ever since we lost to Mapua, sinasabi talaga namin na we still have control sa fate namin papunta sa Final Four. So, ‘yun nga, we’ll just focus on our game, one-by-one, and we will never give up,” he said.
("We talked about it for the past week ever since we lost to Mapua, we have been saying that we still have control of our fate heading into the Final Four. We’ll just focus on our game, one-by-one, and we will never give up.")
The 22-year-old is also relieved to help out San Beda now that he is back at full strength after a nagging left hamstring strain back in Round 1.
“Sabi nga sa akin ni Coach Yuri (Escueta), yung ibang players sa ibang teams nagstep-up na eh, nagpe-peak na rin. So sinabihan na rin ako na, especially coming off an injury, na I have to step up na yung laro ko and hindi lang puro si Jacob [Cortez] or yung other teammates ko,” he added.
“I think it’s the right time for me, and everything is peaking for me right now."
("Like Coach Yuri told me, players from other teams are stepping up now, they're peaking. So he told me, especially coming off an injury, that I ahve to step up my game and it can't just be all Jacob or my other teammates... I think it’s the right time for me, and everything is peaking for me right now")
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
