SAN Miguel Beer’s statement win over TnT Katropa Saturday night in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup was more than enough to soothe the feeling of a dejected Arwind Santos.
The one-time league MVP was ejected in the fourth period of the team’s 99-94 victory over the Katropa along with Anthony Semerad after the two figured in a skirmish that resulted in a double flagrant foul penalty 2 infractions on both players.
The incident happened at the 7:36 mark and the score of the highly intense game tied at 83-all.
Santos considered the victory as a big consolation on his part along with teammate Marcio Lassiter, who was also ejected earlier following the same violation in a separate scuffle with TnT’s Terrence Romeo.
“Sa aming mga players ang pinaka-gusto mong mangyari pag na thrown out ka yung maging pabor sa inyo na manalo ang team mo,” said Santos at the Mall of Asia Arena. “Mabuti na lang pumabor sa amin ni Marcio yung pagka thrown out namin.”
The Beermen did survive the absence of their two key players as the reigning champions went to import Renaldo Balkman and Chris Ross down the stretch to pull off the all-important win.
San Miguel improved to an even 4-4 card to bolster its bid for a place in the top 4 come the playoffs, while dragging TnT Katropa down the standings at 6-3.
Santos finished with seven points (2-of-8 from the field) and seven rebounds in 22 minutes of play, while Lassiter played for 16 minutes and also finished with seven points on 3-of-10 shooting, with five rebounds.
Santos admitted being taken aback when he was hit with an F2 together with Semerad.
“Ang expected ko kasi F1 lang, kaso biglang F2 yung binigay,” he said. “Pero di naman natin mapipigilan yun.”
And neither the physical play he had with Semerad as the two of them went for the rebound could be avoided.
“Normal lang yun. Kahit sino naman sa amin, hindi natin maiiwasan yun,” said Santos.
At the same time, Santos made known he’s not one to back down from any fight.
“Kailangan sabayan natin. Hindi puwedeng papayag kami na ganunin lang,” he said. “Ang nangyari din diyan, ayaw din naming matalo.”
While Santos was grateful San Miguel managed to eke this one out, he said the incident should just be a one-time experience for him and Lassiter.
“Nag usap kami ni Marcio at pareho kami sa paniwala na hindi dapat laging mangyari ito kasi kailangang-kailangan kami ng team lalo na pag ganitong crucial game,” said the 36-year-old lanky forward.
“Knowing us kaming dalawa ni Marcio hindi namin gusting mangyari sa amin yun kasi alam namin na kailangan kami ng team,” he added.
