By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Ilonggo guard John Bryan Sajonia pulled off his best scoring performance in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup so far after spearheading the attack of the Marinerong Pilipino-San Beda against CCI-Yengskivel, 126-76, on April 4, 2024, at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
The former superstar of the Santa Clarita International School of Iloilo grabbed a conference-high 31-point performance and was on fire from the three-point line after draining eight out of his 10 attempts.
Sajonia displayed a shooting clinic against CCI and was in the zone as early as the opening quarter, knocking down wide-open treys that helped San Beda take a quick commanding advantage.
When the second quarter kicked off, the combo guard stepped on the gas pedal and was in attack mode every time he caught the leather in the baseline and during San Beda’s pin-down actions.
It was in the last three minutes of the second frame that San Beda started to feed the hot hand as they swung the ball to Sajonia to keep his rhythm in the game.
Despite a tighter perimeter coverage deployed by CCI on Sajonia to prevent him from jacking up more open trifectas, San Beda just went to their money man and let him run the show.
From knocking down contested triples to making difficult step-back shots from beyond the arc, it was clear that Sajonia’s scoring avalanche was the catalyst during San Beda’s lopsided win over CCI.
Backstopping Sajonia during the win was NCAA Season 99 Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) James Payosing who tallied 14 big points.
Before playing in the PBA D-League, Sajonia became a part of the Under-24 National 3×3 team pool of Gilas Pilipinas during the last Asian Games.
