Former Adamson High School cager Mark Esperanza hopes to continue steering San Sebastian College after his winning debut in Season 101 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) juniors basketball tournament over the weekend.

Leading the Staglets to a 72-71 victory over Mapua University at the Filoil EcoOil Centre, the 18-year-old Esperanza said he was raring to make his NCAA debut after he had to sit out the first three games after being suspended for playing in the Jr. Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.

The former Gilas Pilipinas Youth star scored 23 points in his first game for San Sebastian and snapped a three-game losing streak.

“It’s very sad that I wasn’t able to help my teammates when they kept losing. While I was counting the games before I came back, I stayed ready, so that I can 100 percent help my teammates,” said Esperanza was a part of the Adamson squad that won the Season 86 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines juniors basketball title.

“We just need to learn from our mistakes from the last game so that our momentum will continue.”

Staglets head coach Chelito Caro said with Esperanza on board, he is confident they will be able to make a turnaround and make it to the Final Four.

“He was the missing key in this group. We were supposed to start the season complete but him being suspended was out of our hands,” said Caro, who served as an assistant coach to Goldwin Monteverde in National University Nazareth School.