It felt like everything was going wrong for the NU Bulldogs, until Reinhard Jumamoy saved the day.

Jumamoy banked in the game-winning three-pointer with 0.5 seconds left in overtime to lift NU to an 87-85 win over the UST Growling Tigers, adding to the case he has been building all season: he belongs in the conversation on the best point guard in the UAAP right now.

This was actually his second attempt to win it in overtime as he attempted a layup a few moments earlier that Collins Akowe blocked with five seconds left. NU got the ball back and inbounded from the baseline. Jumamoy caught the ball near halfcourt, dribbled across to the right elbow, and rose into a long stepback three over UST’s Mark Llemit — he shot it from so far away that it would have counted for four points had this been a PBA game.

The fact that the Bulldogs still had a chance to win it though was an achievement in itself as they almost walked into an embarrassing collapse after building a lead that peaked at 15 points. 

Jumamoy’s three early in the first quarter kicked off a 13-0 run that built a 23-10 lead, and NU cruised from there. They were ahead by as much as 15, 46-31, early in the third quarter and held a 13-point cushion entering the fourth. Then came UST’s comeback as they rallied to tie the game and force overtime while Jumamoy went quiet, missing two three-pointers in the final seconds of regulation that could have ended it. UST carried that momentum into the extra period, taking their first leads since the first quarter at 83-82 and 85-84, and for a stretch it looked like the Growling Tigers were going to steal a game NU had controlled for over three quarters.

However, Jumamoy stepped in. He scored six points in overtime, including the game-winning three-pointer. He finished with a balanced stat-line–a team-high 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting, four three-pointers, six rebounds, six assists, and two steals in 31 minutes.

The rest of the lineup did their part too, with five other Bulldogs reaching at least eight points apiece. NU continues to lean on a team-oriented attack, and Jumamoy has become the player tying it together as their lead guard.

The former NU-Nazareth School Bullpup is now in his fourth season with the Bulldogs and has blossomed in his first year as a full-time starter following Steve Nash Enriquez’s departure. He has embraced the larger responsibility, showing that he belongs in the UAAP’s top point guard conversation.

Through six games this season, Jumamoy is now averaging a team-best 13.5 points, along with 6.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.2 steals. He is tied with PJ Palacielo for the team lead in assists and somehow leads NU in defensive rebounding despite often being the smallest player on the floor. 

The Bulldogs have emerged as one of the surprises of UAAP Season 89, built on a system of team-wide buy-in that has become the trademark of head coach Jeff Napa. Still, Jumamoy is the connector who makes it all work from the point guard spot, and performances like this one make it hard to imagine him being left off this season’s UAAP Elite Team.