BEAU Belga rued Rain or Shine’s failure to clinch a playoff berth on the first of three tries after surrendering a 99-95 decision at the hands of Alaska in their PBA Philippine Cup matchup on Friday night.
The Elasto Painters saw their outright playoff entry get derailed after losing for the fourth time in nine games, following a close loss to the Aces in a see-saw game that saw 33 lead changes and nine deadlocks.
“Onga eh, sayang. Merong tsansa,” Belga said. “Sabi ko nga kanina, kahit mag-overtime lang, malay mo, ‘di ba? It’s for Alaska.”
The result spoiled his solid effort of 11 points, including two triples, four boards, two assists, and zero turnover in 23 minutes off the bench for Belga, who battled a flu that kept him out of practice for a day.
“Coming into this game, talagang nilalagnat ako, so sabi ko, kailangan lang laruin, kailangan i-survive ‘tong game na ‘to,” the 31-year-old cager said. “Hindi pa para sa amin.”
Now, it’s going to be an uphill climb for the E-Painters, who are facing mighty San Miguel Beer and contender Barangay Ginebra in their last two games.
“We still have two chances, kaya lang mabigat yung kaharap,” Belga admitted.
His only focus is for the E-Painters to try and beat the defending champion Beermen on Wednesday at the MOA Arena for them to have less pressure against the Gin Kings.
“The only chance namin is San Miguel,” the ROS enforcer said. “Ayaw ko mag-ano sa Ginebra, kasi Ginebra is also looking for a chance to survive, so the only chance is San Miguel for me.”
“Hopefully (mag-relax ang SMB),” he added. “Hindi mo masasabi eh, kasi they’re a strong team; kahit mag-relax yun, yung second unit nun, iba pa rin.”
“So hopefully mag-relax sila ng tuluyan,” he continued with a chuckle. “And come Friday nasa playoffs na kami.”
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