BY MILES ARCENAL
MAPUA's Cyrus Nitura was highly apologetic after being part of that scary incident with Justin Lozano after the JRU forward had to be taken out on a stretcher late in the Heavy Bombers' 66-63 win over the Cardinals on Fridafy.
At the 2:08 mark of the payoff period, Nitura went for a fast-break layup, faked, and made contact with Lozano which sent the lanky forward crashing head first to the floor after that incident.
READ: JRU beats Mapua in game dampened by Justin Lozano injury
Lozano hit his head on the court upon landing, briefly lost consciousness, and was later stretchered out to an ambulance for immediate medical attention.
While some noted that the 6-foot-2 Nitura reacted non-chalantly from the fall, he explained that the sequence happened too fast for him to react differently.
"‘Yung kanina hindi sadya ‘yun, nakita ko siya patalon eh kaya pumeke ako. Pero hindi talaga sadya ‘yun," he said.
When he saw the Heavy Bomber forward being escorted out of the court, the Cardinal guard admitted feeling a wave of guilt and concern despite knowing it was an accident.
“Parang nakonsensya ako siyempre pero hindi talaga sadya. Sana walang masamang nangyari sa kanya,” he said.
“Prayers up,” Nitura added after finishing with nine points, nine rebounds, five blocks, two assists, and a steal.
Before the accident, Lozano registered 13 points on a 5-of-7 shooting clip, along with three rebounds and two steals.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
