In the absence of their veteran shooter ‘Shawn,’ the Heavy Bombers had a ‘Sean’ to turn to. 

The young and quick-paced core of the JRU made sure to step up to the plate with team captain Shawn Argente sidelined, blasting fellow young squad San Sebastian on Wednesday, 59-46, behind Sean Salvador’s career-high 22 points. 

The 19-year-old rookie shot the lights out with five triples laced with three rebounds, an assist, and a steal to make for an all-around BPG showing for the Heavy Bombers. 

True to Coach Nani Epondulan’s pre-season billing of his rookie and sophomore-laden Heavy Bombers, the young guns maximized speed and aggression as second year forward Justin Lozano registered 11 markers while freshman Yuri Duque added 8 in the winning effort. 

Another new Heavy Bomber in Allan Laurenaria, a rookie plucked out of the juniors program of Mapúa, flirted with a double-double with seven points and eight rebounds in only 16 minutes of play. 

The Heavy Bombers needed to overcome a slow start after being down 16-8 in the first frame, going off for a 17-7 and 19-9 scoring advantage in the succeeding quarters to maintain dominance throughout the contest. 

On the other side, it was also a rookie who manned the frontlines of Coach Rob Labagala and the San Sebastian Golden Stags, extracting nine markers and 15 boards from the league’s top rebounder Jhuniel dela Rama. 

Nobody in Labagala’s stable scored in double digits, though getting eight points apiece from Oneil Castor and Christian Ricio, while rookie Ian Cuajao– who exploded for 25 in San Sebastian’s breakthrough win last week– struggled with only six markers on 3-of-12 shooting.

The JRU-San Sebastian tussle was the first cross-over game where Group A teams are to battle their counterparts in Group B, and vice versa in what the new NCAA basketball format calls the ‘inter-group phase.’

The win improves JRU’s tally to 3-2 to remain solid at third place in Group B, while dealing San Sebastian its fourth loss in five games to stay stuck at fourth in Group A.