NOW Mark Barroca knows how boxers felt when hit by a liver shot.
The veteran guard was knocked out of breath on the floor after colliding with Magnolia teammate Calvin Abueva in the endgame of the Hotshots’ 99-95 overtime win against the NLEX Road Warriors on Friday night in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The impact of the collision left Barroca down on the floor of the Philsports Arena for a few minutes as he tried to get his second wind.
READ Magnolia outlasts NLEX in overtime to snap four-game slump
“Nawalan ako ng hangin. Hindi ako makahinga, sobrang lakas ng impact niya. Para akong nag black out,” he said while trying to massage his hurting ribcage.
“Nagulat din ako sa lakas ng impact, e. Tapon ako sa gilid e. Pero ganyan talaga ang basketball.”
He plans to have his right ribcage X-rayed on Saturday just to make sure everything is fine.
“Yung adrenalin kasi ngayon buhay pa, e. Mararamdaman ko na yan maya’t maya pa,” said the 38-year-old native of Zamboanga.
But at least the endgame bump between him and Abueva was proof of how badly the Hotshots wanted to win after losing their last four outings and fell out of the Top 8 playoff circle.
“Yung kumpiyansa namin, masyadong mababa yung morale namin. Kaya sabi nga namin manalo kami ng ganitong laban, kahit kaunti nagta-thrive kami,” said Barroca.
The long-time Magnolia leader typified the fightback of the team from as much as a 50-39 deficit in the third quarter when he went straight to the hoop and scored the driving layup that finally put the Hotshots for good in the overtime period, 96-95.
“Nag-trabaho talaga lahat,” said Barroca as he credited the entire team for pulling off the grind out victory that serves as a perfect momentum for Magnolia heading to its Christmas Day game against Barangay Ginebra.
Barroca finished with 12 points, six rebounds, eight assists, and five steals.
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