Chito Victolero’s return to the collegiate scene couldn't have been any more dramatic.
But after Mapua let a two-point lead slip away in the dying seconds of its NCAA Season 102 debut against Jose Rizal University, the veteran coach knew exactly what his Cardinals needed to work on.
Free throws.
Mapua went just 16-of-38 from the charity stripe, leaving 22 points on the table in a 65-64 heartbreaker against the Heavy Bombers on Monday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.
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The most costly misses came late. With Mapua clinging to a two-point lead, Cyrus Nitura missed two free throws that could have given the Cardinals some breathing room.
He missed both, giving Sean Salvador the opening to drill the game-winning corner three with 2.9 seconds left that sent Mapua back to Intramuros empty-handed.
Victolero rued the problem was hardly new. “I told them that since nung preseason, yun na yung problema namin. But ngayon, lumabas din talaga,” he said.
“We missed 22 free throws. Sabi ko nga, kahit isa lang pumasok sa 22, I think we had a good chance of winning the game.”
Still, Victolero refused to pin the loss on Nitura or any one among his players.
“I trust all my players. I mean, not only the Nituras,” he said, stressing that the Cardinals simply needed to learn from the late hiccup and move forward.
After spending years coaching in the PBA, Victolero returned to the collegiate ranks with a young Mapua squad that showed it can hang with JRU until the late collapse.
Rookies Lance Nitura, Jamal Diaz, and Louis Razon all played major minutes in their league debuts, giving Victolero plenty to be encouraged about despite the result.
“Since we’re a young team, may mga konting lapses lang because they’re young,” he said. “Hopefully, as the season goes, mag-matured yung mga bata ko.”
'Pinapawisan nga ako kanina'
And while the pressure may have felt familiar, the setting certainly was not.
“Of course, I’m very excited. Pinapawisan nga ako kanina,” Victolero joked of his return to the collegiate ranks. “It’s a lot different from the PBA. But in terms of pressure, parehas lang.”
His first game back also came against a familiar face in JRU head coach Nani Epondulan and assistant Yong Garcia, who served as two of Victolero’s assistants during his first stint with Mapua.
“It’s also a battle of coaching,” Victolero said. “At least, I battled also one of the smart coaches here.”
Victolero may have walked away with a loss, but he also brought home with him something more important for a young team: belief.
Mapua stayed close, battled possession after possession, and had a chance to steal the game until the final seconds.
Now, the challenge is turning that close call into a lesson.
“It was our first game. And we have a lot of things to improve,” Victolero said. “Let’s take it one game at a time.”
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