{"id":346104,"date":"2021-06-16T06:06:03","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T20:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=346104"},"modified":"2021-06-16T06:06:03","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T20:06:03","slug":"win-against-hk-for-cnmi-guam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/win-against-hk-for-cnmi-guam\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Win against HK for CNMI, Guam\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
Saipan native son Jericho Cruz in action against Hong Kong in Game 1 of Guam\u2019s two-game set against Hong Kong in the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers in Amman, Jordan. (FIBA ASIA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He may have Guam emblazoned across his chest, but Jericho Cruz said his 25-point, 7-assist, 4-rebound performance in the U.S. territory\u2019s impressive 103-82 victory over Hong Kong last Sunday was also dedicated to his home islands of the Northern Marianas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m doing this for the island of Saipan and Guam,\u201d said the 30-year-old Marianas High School alumnus in a social media message to Saipan Tribune from Amman, Jordan where he and the Guam national basketball team took on Hong Kong anew last night in the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got more work to do. I\u2019m just glad that we got our first win and hopefully it\u2019s not the last,\u201d added Cruz.<\/p>\n

The 6\u20191\u201d NLEX Road Warrior in the Philippine Basketball Association said even if he\u2019s suiting up for Guam, where he has paternal roots, he will always play hard for his loved ones and friends on Saipan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to thank them for their support. I appreciate them\u2026I feel great and my mindset is always to win,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Coming into Game 2 of their bubble series against the former British Crown colony, Cruz said he\u2019s approaching it as if it\u2019s the first game again and will play to the best of his ability.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not expecting anything. I\u2019m just gonna go out there and work hard as always.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guam men\u2019s national basketball team coach E.J. Calvo said Cruz finally showed what he\u2019s capable of against Hong Kong Sunday night.<\/p>\n

Jericho Cruz, right, poses with former CNMI national and high school teammate Joemar Tumaquip, who is now a sergeant in the U.S. Marines. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIn Game 1, Jericho made a statement and I expect him to continue to not only look for his own shot, but also create for others,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cruz\u2019s breakout performance was in stark contrast to his anemic 4-point performance against New Zealand in February 2020 that Guam lost to the tune of 113-94. That game served as Cruz\u2019s debut for Guam.<\/p>\n

\u201cJericho is a pro, and doesn\u2019t need a lot of motivation to play hard. I just need to provide an opportunity for him to succeed with spacing and good timing in our offense,\u201d said Calvo when asked about his ward\u2019s complete 180-degree turnaround.<\/p>\n

Calvo also echoed Cruz\u2019s words that Cruz and company are not only representing Guam in the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers but the rest of Micronesia as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a big second game against Hong Kong and adjustments have been made. Our mission to get these two wins and advance to the FIBA Asia Cup for the first time. This is history for the Pacific Islands and we are proudly representing the region as well as our island of Guam,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Northern Mariana Islands Basketball president James Lee, who is a former teammate of Cruz in the CNMI national men\u2019s basketball team, also came away impressed with Cruz\u2019s showing in the first game against Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

\u201cJericho and his team look great out there. Great chemistry and trust which leads to great ball movement and open shots for him and for his teammates,\u201d said Lee, who even joked that Guam was lucky he didn\u2019t see action for the Hong Kong side. The Marpac beverage sales manager\u2019s family hails from Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

Rollers Basketball Association head coach Joe Diaz said Cruz remains an inspiration to young basketball players in the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan it\u2019s awesome for me to see a Saipan kid to be playing in that high level competition. What Jericho Cruz just did is show the kids back in the CNMI that dreams do come true if you just work hard for it. I have no words seeing him play against Hong Kong in the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers. I\u2019m so proud of him. I hope one day he can come back home and do a camp here in the CNMI,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Joemar Tumaquip, a sergeant in the U.S. Marines, said he\u2019s proud of his former teammate, adding that he\u2019s happy all of Cruz\u2019s hard work the past several months is finally paying off.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve known each other for a long time now, I don\u2019t even know where to start talking about growing up and playing ball together. He trained and worked hard with the Guam national team while they were here in California. He\u2019s finally blending in nicely with his teammates, plus he\u2019s having fun,\u201d said Tumaquip who played with Cruz in the CNMI national men\u2019s basketball team and MHS Dolphins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He may have Guam emblazoned across his chest, but Jericho Cruz said his 25-point, 7-assist,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":346105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[26,295],"class_list":["post-346104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-cnmi","tag-hk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}