AS disappointed as Justin Gutang was on his overturned game-winner, the first-year forward knew that St. Benilde shouldn't have been in that position in the first place.
"I was praying it was good, but we can't hope on just one play," he said. "Whatever happens, we just got to move forward from that."
Gutang tried to singlehandedly bring the Blazers back to life after being down by as many as 11 points, dropping 16 of his 25 points in that furious fourth-quarter fightback, on top of his eight rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
"I just didn't want to lose that game. I'm sure none of us wanted to lose and I just want to keep on pushing, give it all I got," he said.
The victory almost was through Gutang's doing, too, had his late lay-up counted, but the referees nullified the basket as San Sebastian took the 66-65 win on Tuesday.
"I was thinking that it was a huge break for us," he said.
Gutang, though, acknowledged that it should be considered a miracle that they were in a position to win given how bad the Blazers started off the game as they allowed the Golden Stags to take the early lead.
"Like coach TY (Tang) said, we shouldn't have won that game. The way we played at the start, we started flat and I guess, we took it easy on them," he said. "That should never happen. We should respect anyone each game, no matter who we're playing against. We shouldn't take it easy on anyone."
For one, Gutang is looking at this setback at the hands of San Sebastian as a learning lesson for the young St. Benilde squad as it eyes to remain in contention for a Final Four spot.
"It's just a huge heartbreak for us. Building all our wins and just dropping it, starting all over," he said. "We just have to move forward and continue to stay at the top."
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