CEBU, Philippines - Gomez, son of UC coach Roel Gomez, was fielded in to replace an off-sync Janssen Abella and at the height of the Jaguars' daring comeback, his successive tomahawks dashed USJ-R's comeback hopes.
The Jaguars were down by only two points, 70-72, at the final 5:35 mark until Gomez bombarded them with a barrage of 3-pointers to the delight of pro-UC fans led by his mother Lalaine, a registered nurse who is working in a New York hospital and is town for a three-week vacation.
"I'm overwhelmed," said Gomez after being lavished with praise that he has inherited the shooting touch of his father Roel, a member of the Alaska Milk grandslam team in the PBA.
Gomez finished with a career-high 20 points. Mocrief Rogado topscored for the Webmasters with 24 points followed by 6-foot-9 center June Mar Fajardo with 22 markers, most of them he obtained from the foul line.
Rommel Luceño added 12 points for the Webmasters, who shoot for their fifth straight win tomorrow against the Don Bosco Greywolves.
Kurt Amores, the only bright hope for the Jaguars in the post, scattered 19 points. The missing link for USJ-R was Edwin Bibera, who was handcuffed to only five points after scoring 20 in their conquest of the USC Warriors and charting 30 points in their double overtime victory over the SWU Cobras.
The loss was the Jaguars' first in three starts.
The scores
UC (96) - Rogado 24, Fajardo 22, Gomez 20, Luceño 12, Abella 9, Mohammad 2, Bernil 2, Quilantang 1, Cayanong 1, Juliane 1
USJ-R (81) - Amores 19, Duran 9, Pateño 8, Lapiz 8, Alquizola 7, Villaver 6, Nudalo 6, Bibera 5, Sulaiman 4, De la Rama 4, De la Peña 3, Pacinio. - THE FREEMAN