After a quiet five-point outing in the UP Fighting Maroons’ season-opening win over the UST Growling Tigers, James Payosing erupted for 16 points off the bench in a 94-75 win over the ADMU Blue Eagles–UP’s seventh straight over Ateneo dating back to 2023.

Payosing provided exactly the kind of impact that UP was looking for when it recruited the 6’2 forward who won an NCAA Season 99 championship and Finals MVP with San Beda before transferring last March 2025. He arrived as part of a loaded recruiting class that included fellow transferees Veejay Pre and Rainer Maga to help replace the graduated “Maroon 5.” 

Two games in, UP is 2-0, and Payosing has already shown why the Maroons were keen on bringing him in.

His impact changed the game against Ateneo, particularly in the second half. Checking in with just over two minutes left in the third period, he immediately drew a shooting foul from Kieffer Alas and calmly made both free throws to build UP’s cushion heading into the fourth. Then came the sequence that broke the game open: over the first seven months of the fourth quarter, Payosing scored nine points, highlighted by two three-pointers. UP never looked back, blowing the game open with a 21-6 run that stretched the lead to a high of 25, 90-65. Payosing finished with 16 points, 11 coming after halftime.

While his debut against UST did not have the same lofty scoring numbers–just five points on 2-of-5 shooting–his fingerprints were all over that win too as he found other ways to contribute. He added five rebounds and four assists, and his biggest sequence came fin the second half as well, as UP clawed back from an eight-point hole in the third quarter. Payosing set up baskets for Gani Stevens, Maga, and Pre in succession, scored a layup, then capped the run with a jumper that tied the game at 62-all. He was directly involved in nearly every possession of UP during that game-changing run.

Two games in, Payosing has continued to show what made him special while he was with San Beda–he can impact winning basketball whether or not his shot is falling, and when it is, as it was against Ateneo, he can be a game-changing difference-maker. UP’s campaign is off to a strong start and if Payosing can keep this up, the Fighting Maroons should have no problem in their bid to reclaim the UAAP title.