Fortea relishes spark plug role for Fighting Maroons

MANILA, Philippines – Terrence Fortea has so far been providing the spark off the bench for the University of Philippines Fighting Maroons in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament. 

For instance, Fortea came up big in UP’s come-from-behind 69-57 win over the Adamson Soaring Falcons last Saturday, September 28. 

He nailed all hiss three attempts from the 3-point area in the second half to help the Fighting Maroons regain the momentum after being down by 22 points at the half. 

Fortea finished the game with 13 markers, five boards and two steals as UP preserved its perfect 5-0 record. 

“Nag-start talaga yung mindset sa bench pa lang, kasi kung hindi ka kumpiyansa sa sarili mo pag nag-take ka ng mga ganung shots mas lamang yung sablay, so siguro sa bench pa lang mina-mindset ko na sayang ang practice ko kung hindi ko naman siya ite-take sa game,” Fortea told Philstar.com.

The sweet-shooting guard, though, stressed the importance of guiding the team’s youngsters more than providing solid scoring off the bench. 

“So hindi lang siya about sa points, or pag nasa loob ako ng game. Siguro yung mga kasama ko sa bench, lalo na yung mga bata, lagi ko sila nireremind kung anong type ng game,” he added. 

“Remind sila kung ano ba yung ginagawa namin, sistema namin. Remind sila na manood, kasi importante yun kapag tinawag kami, alam namin ang gagawin namin pag pinasok kami sa game. Hindi lang siya about sa points.”

After an injury last season, Fortea said he became hungrier to contribute for the undefeated Maroons in their championship redemption tour.

UP will look forward to its sixth straight victory when they face UST on Wednesday, 4 p.m., at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. 

“Siguro UST team, syempre respeto namin sa kalaban andyan, knowing UST maganda ang tinatakbo nila ngayon, siguro paghahandaan namin talaga siya. Mindset namin ngayon is paghandaan talaga,” he added. – Brent Sagre, intern