Still missing his front court running mate Allen Liwag, talented Benilde big man Shawn Umali went off against JRU and carried the Taft-based squad to a 76-66 win on Tuesday, in the process claiming an outright quarterfinals berth and a twice-to-beat ticket entering the NCAA Season 101 playoffs.

The 6-foot-3 burly big had himself a milestone game bannered by a career-high 28 points to go along with 12 boards, 3 steals, 3 blocks, and an assist– his best showing so far donning the Blazers jersey.

The inspired performance, which Umali said he dedicated to Liwag, earned the ex-LPU Pirate the best player honors.

“Malaki yung presence ni Allen sa amin, double-double machine sya on defense at offense, malaking part sya ng team namin. Nawala sya, so kailangan ko mag step up. Actually may nakasulat sa wrist ko ‘Liwag.’ Dine-dedicate namin itong game na ito para sa kanya talaga,” Umali told GMA Regional TV News in a post-game interview. 

Umali scored on a hyper-efficient 11-for-16 clip with perfect free throw shooting (6/6) and committed only two turnovers for an all-around stellar play for Coach Charles Tiu. 

Tony Ynot and Jhommel Ancheta also had sizable contributions with 13 and 11 markers, respectively. 

Shawn Argente’s 14 points was a bright spot for Coach Nani Epondulan and company despite JRU’s 10-point loss– but not without difficulty as the veteran guard struggled from the field and converted only 6 from his 16 total attempts. 

Ivan Panapanaan also had a commendable outing for the Heavy Bombers. The promising sophomore and former NCAA juniors all-defensive team member dropped 8 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks on a perfect shooting clip with no turnovers.