FOR the second time in three years, San Beda rained down on Shawn Umali’s birthday.
The St. Benilde bigman was reasonably dejected as he walked out of the Smart Araneta Coliseum dugout after the Blazers’ 72-91 loss to the Red Lions in Game 1 of the NCAA Season 101 semifinals on Wednesday.
Umali, celebrating his 25th birthday, recalled the irony of how two years ago he was also going through the same misery. When he was still playing for Lyceum, his Pirates blew a twice-to-beat advantage against the same team, with their elimination also coming in his special day – December 2.
READ: San Beda asserts mastery over CSB with Game 1 blowout win
“Masakit siyempre,” Umali said.
“Nung nilaglag nila kami birthday ko rin yun e. So napakasakit sakin, sa part ko.”
Umali certainly did his part, firing 13 points and grabbing seven boards in the loss which saw the Red Lions breakaway in the second quarter, before ending the game just mere minutes into the fourth with their sheer dominance over them.
The 6’3 bruiser didn’t mince words when asked about the loss.
“Pumunta kami dito sa Araneta na hindi kami nag-laro. Yun lang naman,” he said.
“Isa lang din siguro, yung lapses namin lalo na sa defense, hindi namin nagagawa ng tama yung gameplan namin. Siguro sarili nalang namin ang problema,” he admitted.
Put in a situation where their season is on the line once more this Friday, Umali is hoping to see his squad leave everything on the floor come that game.
“Sa Friday all-out na. Para samin, lalo na kami graduating na kami, bigay lang ang best yun lang,” he said.
“Yung effort namin sa defense, kailangan namin doblehin, kung pwede nga triplehin. Yung game plan namin talaga, kila Miller, yun nga di namin nagawa ma-stop namin sila.”
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