AS Arellano continued to stumble when the NCAA Season 102 crossover round commenced, the tides finally started to turn when it faced San Beda at the Filoil Centre on Tuesday.
Leading by as many as 15 points, the Chiefs saw déjà vu as the Red Lions force-fed a 16-0 run, prying away what would have been their first victory after three straight losses.
At the forefront of their worsening collapse was AG Borromeo, Arellano’s point-of-attack defender that up until that point was holding San Beda’s Aldous Torculas to his worst shooting night so far of 4-of-16.
READ: Chiefs discover who they are as they go through the NCAA trenches
As if Borromeo’s role wasn’t hard enough, he also took a hit at the 8:22 mark, when a fastbreak against Torculas ended with him landing awkwardly near the stanchion after an advantage foul.
“Ayun yung parang nag-advantage foul si Aldous,” Borromeo detailed to SPIN.ph. “Dumiin yung paa ko. Yung plantar ko sumakit. Pero nilaro ko pa rin, kailangan eh.”
The tight run-ins with Torculas didn’t end in that foul, though, as the Red Lions’ forward managed a perfectly-timed chasedown block on Borromeo which would have given Arellano the lead with a minute and 21 seconds left.
Still, Borromeo soldiered on, forcing a turnover the following possession and the most crucial contest on Torculas after a Basti Valencia turnaround jumper to secure the 56-55 victory.
“Yung chase down ni Aldous, given na yun eh. But yung defensive stop, yun yung job ko talaga. Yun yung trabaho ko sa team, no matter what happens.”
“Hindi ko bibitawan yung trabaho na yun, which yun yung binibigay sa akin ni coach,” he added.
Makakatulog kana, AG
Up until their match with San Beda, Borromeo hadn’t had the most fortunate of stretches, as multiple fumbles from their previous game against Jose Rizal University continued to haunt him.
In the closing seconds of last Tuesday’s showdown with the Heavy Bombers, it was Borromeo who committed a turnover with 16 seconds as they were desperately protecting a 62-61 lead.
To add insult to injury, the third-year guard also committed a foul on JRU’s Sean Salvador, sending him to the charity stripe which steered the Bombers to the 64-62 victory.
“Ang dami kong sleepless nights,” Borromeo explained. "Simula nung sa JRU, may lapses ako noong dulo. But yun, sinurrender ko lang kay Lord lahat na yung worries ko pati overthinking ko. Binigay ko lang sa kanya lahat kasi sobrang sakit eh.”
It was easy for the 6-foot defender to head into this game with the aggressiveness to bounce back, but thanks to head coach Chico Manabat and the rest of the squad, Borromeo was prevented from being too hard on himself, and he returned the trust with the stop that busted their three-game skid.
“Parang di ko naman siya totally bitbit kasi sinasabi na sa akin ng teammates ko pati nila coach after that JRU game na continue lang. Masakit yan, pero kinabukasan, trabaho ulit over anything," he said.
“But sa sarili ko, masakit pa rin eh. Yun nga, di ko kaya ng sarili ko, binigay ko kay Lord yung worries ko.”
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