THE UNIVERSITY of San Carlos’ (USC) Cameroonian forward Shooster Olago is an unusually unflappable fellow, known for his stoic demeanor as much for his multi-faceted game.
But with his Warriors finally claiming their first title in 57 years with a stirring 64-53 victory over the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers in Game Five of the 15th Cesafi finals on Tuesday night, Olago finally opened up and told Cebu Daily News of the driving force behind his monstrous performance in the title-clinching victory.
CESAFI MVP Shooster Olago of USC.
CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON
“Last year,”the 6-foot-7 forward emphatically said.
Olago was referring to last year’s 49-64 Game Five loss to eventual champions Southwestern University (SWU), where he failed to bring his A-game and finished with a mere four points in a miserable performance made worse by his 10 turnovers.
“I was one of the important players that the team was looking to lean on and I failed to deliver. And I waited a year for another chance to redeem myself. And once I had the opportunity, I wasn’t going to let it go,” shared Olago.
The Warriors were facing a 40-46 deficit at the end of the third and with just 10 minutes left in the season, Olago decided to leave it all out on the floor, starting with a strong driving layup followed by two free throws off the fourth foul of UV counterpart Steve Akomo.
He then stalked the passing lane and stole the ball before careening down the floor for a thunderous tomahawk slam that finally put USC in the driver’s seat, 48-46. He capped his run of 12 straight points with consecutive putbacks that all but sealed the win for the Carolinians.
Olago finished with 26 points – half of which was scored in the last 10 minutes – along with 19 rebounds and three steals.
Fittingly, Olago was named as the league’s Most Valuable Player and a member of the Mythical Five team.