CALVIN Oftana hardly felt regret when San Beda's hopes of a perfect season were sent down the drain after a 65-64 Game One defeat to Letran in the NCAA Season 95 Finals.
But this one, an 81-79 Game Three loss on Wednesday, really hurt.
"Sobrang sakit. Sobrang sakit ng pagkatalo," said Oftana, who saw his MVP year end without a title to boot.
The fourth-year forward gave it his all for the Red Lions, firing 18 points and eight rebounds in the winner-take-all battle.
What hurt, though, was him failing to deliver what could have been the game-tying trey in the last 30 seconds that led to Fran Yu's crucial freebies in the last 15.9 ticks.
"Na-short kami," he lamented as the Red Lions settled for the runner-up finish.
Ever the sportsman, Oftana did give his props to the tremendous game Letran showed, not only snapping San Beda 18-game win run this season and an active streak of 32 won games, but also its quest to complete a four-peat.
"Letran played well. Nandoon yung effort nila," he said. "Nandoon din naman yung effort namin pero kapos lang talaga kami. It’s really for Letran talaga. They played well, si (Jerrick) Balanza, (Bonbon) Batiller, they played well especially Fran Yu."
Defeated as his side may be, Oftana looks at this runner-up finish as a "learning lesson" for the Mendiola side as they now plot for a stronger comeback year next season.
"We did well. Wala namang sisihan. Coach Boyet (Fernandez) prepared us well. Ganoon din yung mga teammates namin," he said. "Pero gaya nga ng sabi ko, learning lesson siya."
"Babawi kami. Alam naming babawi kami."
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