MAPUA had the golden opportunity to send the game into overtime when Cyrus Cuenco was sent to the line for three free throws and Lyceum ahead by three with 27 seconds remaining in the ball game.
But just like their first game, those free throws proved to be the Cardinals' bane once more.
Cuenco made the first one, but missed the second — and although he made the third, the lone miss gave the Pirates enough buffer to survive, 88-87.
After losing another game due to free throws, much like in their 65-64 loss to JRU, Cuenco owned up to it.
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“Akin yun, yung tatlong yun, akin yun,” Cuenco told SPIN.ph.
“Wala eh, yun talaga, mintis eh. Pero alam ko naman din sa sarili ko na tinatrabaho ko yung ganun.”
For the veteran wing, they shouldn't have been in that position to begin with.
The Cardinals held a 76-60 lead early in the fourth quarter before they allowed the Pirates to creep up to them and tie the game by the halfway mark of the payoff period.
No squad led by more than two points for the next three minutes until Lance Aurigue scored nine straight points for the Pirates, culminating in free throws that gave the Pirates an 88-85 lead with 38 seconds left, a lead that would've been erased had Cuenco made all of his foul shots.
But while that miss hurt, Cuenco assures the Mapua faithful that they're working on those misses while also looking at a much larger picture when it comes to improvement — execution.
“Before naman yung first game namin and after yung first game namin is tinatrabaho naman namin yung mga free throws namin," he said. "And yun, siguro, di naman siguro aabot dun kung yung mga execution namin and mga mistakes namin is ma-improve pa namin."
“Yun, wala namin magagawa kundi mag-stick together lang and mag-focus na sa mga next game namin," he continued.
This is the first 0-2 start for Mapua since Season 98, where they had an overturned victory after fielding ineligible player Gab Gamboa in their opening game against San Beda.
But even with an unsavory start to the Chito Victolero era, Cuenco isn’t sweating it, as he, of all people knows that good things take time.
“Siyempre, yun nga, new season and para kay coach Chito gusto namin na makuha yung unang panalo eh. Pero yun nga, siguro maraming pa kaming ni-improve sa team and yun, magtrabaho pa kami.”
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