The son of Ormoc, Leyte continues his sensational rookie campaign in NCAA Season 101. 

Jhuniel Dela Rama’s calling card is his insatiable appetite on the boards. On Wednesday, the rebounding league-leader hit the game-winning jumper to give San Sebastian its second win in NCAA Season 101– in the process upsetting Jonathan Manalili and the streaking Letran Knights. 

“Naglaro lang po talaga ako para sa San Sebastian, like normal player lang po… mahal ko po ang Letran. Naglalaro lang po talaga ako para sa San Sebastian, para maipakita ang talent ko,” the ex-Squire said in an interview, reflecting on the Golden Stags’ 82-81 win over his former school in the junior ranks. 

Fighting tooth and nail with the Knights in the fourth quarter, the Golden Stags found themselves hanging by a thread after a loose ball foul was called on team captain TJ Felebrico that sent Letran big man Kevin Santos to the free throw line.

Santos split his charities, putting Letran up by one with 11.2 seconds remaining, which was all the time Dela Rama needed to pull off one last trick.

An excellently drawn sideline out-of-bounds play with Ralph Gabat as the inbounder located Dela Rama in an advantageous mismatch against a slower Mark Omega. The 6-foot-2 forward dribbled to his midrange spot before spinning to the game-sealing fall-away jumper.

The Knights had a legitimate chance for their version of a game-stealer as they were left with 3.4 ticks on the clock, but sharpshooter Deo Cuajao misfired his three-point heave.

Dela Rama, who won a high school chip with Letran in Season 99, was stellar on both ends of the floor against his former school, tallying 20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals with only a single turnover to earn the best player of the game nod.

“Binigay po sa akin ni Coach Melo na, sa akin ibigay ang bola, at atakihin ko. Sobrang sarap po dahil naniniwala sila sa amin, at ipagpatuloy lang po namin yan. Yung pagtitiwala nila hindi namin puputulin,” said Dela Rama. 

Oneil Castor also had himself a breakthrough performance, scoring a team-high 22 points laced with an efficient 4-for-7 three-point shooting, while Cotabateño rookie Ian Cuajao fired 13 points to help the cause. 

Short-handed as San Sebastian was in their Letran tussle– only having eight players at Coach Rob Labagala’s disposal– they were in command for most of the game and even led by 15 in the third quarter.

Letran fought back in the fourth to drag the game into the trenches, led by an offensively aggressive Jonathan Manalili who surprisingly switched to attack mode instead of his usual facilitator-type play style. 

The Cebuano rookie led all scorers with 26 points on 53.3% field goal shooting and went 10-for-15 from the free throw line to go along with 10 boards and 5 assists, but could not deliver the win for his squad.