ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Collegiate devider Jacob Cortez impressive in UST homecoming

Jacob Cortez impressive in UST homecoming

Published Sep 22, 2025 11:39 am  |  Updated Sep 22, 2025 01:17 pm

At A Glance

  • Jacob Cortez made a roaring return in his homecoming at University of Santo Tomas after leading his new school De La Salle to a hard-earned 60-58 win over Adamson at the Quadricentennial Pavilion last Saturday, Sept. 20.
Jacob Cortez impresses in his UAAP debut as a Green Archer. (UAAP Media)
Jacob Cortez impresses in his UAAP debut as a Green Archer. (UAAP Media)
Jacob Cortez made a roaring return in his homecoming at University of Santo Tomas after leading his new school De La Salle to a hard-earned 60-58 win over Adamson at the Quadricentennial Pavilion last Saturday, Sept. 20.
Jacob, the son of La Salle men’s basketball legend Mike Cortez, came out with an exceptional performance in the very place he honed his craft during his junior days.
“It feels good to play in QPav. I used to practice here. I remember this 4 a.m. practice and even arriving here, I saw the students doing PE and I visualized myself before in that situation,” recalled the 23-year-old Cortez, who followed in his father's footsteps after moving from San Beda to La Salle last year.
“But yeah, it feels good to be here. It feels good to play for La Salle and it feels great that we came out with the win today,” he added.
The 5-foot-11 floor general made a statement in his UAAP debut after listing 16 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals in more than 24 minutes of action – a superb statline that complemented a double-double output of La Salle team captain Mike Phillips.
According to Cortez, who anchored the Red Lions to their NCAA Season 99 title win, one of the factors that helped him adjust well with the system is the bond with his teammates and coaches which manifested on the floor.
“Just by joining practices and then spending time with the guys off the court and then this year we did a lot of bonding, and I was just getting to know my teammates, coaches and not just on the court, but off the court too,” Cortez continued.
“So I think that translates to the game on the court and you can see that we struggle a lot, but it's all about moving on to the next play and just sticking together like what Mike said,” he added.
After a week-long respite, Cortez and the Taft-based squad try to make it two in a row when they battle University of Santo Tomas on Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Cortez is up for a tough man-to-man test as he goes up against fellow elite guard Forthsky Padrigao, who previously served a one-game suspension in the Tigers’ opening demolition of the reigning champion University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons.

Related Tags

Jacob Cortez UAAP Season 88 La Salle Green Archers
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.