UNTIL he was inserted with four seconds remaining in the endgame, Anton Asistio sat on the Rain or Shine bench for nearly 17 minutes, or since being taken out at the 4:55 mark of the third quarter, with the Elasto Painters down by 17 points in a game which was seemingly getting out of hand.
As fate would have it, those next four seconds would give him the opportunity to hit perhaps the four biggest foul shots of his career - and steal the win for the Elasto Painters.
Asistio was fouled by Munzon from beyond the four-point line and then calmly drained four pressure-packed free throws despite being cold off the bench as the Elasto Painters escaped with a 112-111 victory over the Titan Ultra Giant Risers on Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
READ: Asistio's four endgame free throws aid great ROS escape vs Titan
“'Yung sa akin, focus lang. It's just me and the free throw line. Wala silang lahat magagawa basta nag-focus lang ako and I was focusing on the first one muna,” Asistio said.
“I had a feeling na magfa-foul sila. So nung na-feel ko na magfa-foul, binato ko na lang siya.”
The former Ateneo guard bared that the four-point shot wasn’t really the plan as a three-pointer would’ve been enough to send the game into overtime, but he adjusted accordingly to what the defense gave him and reacted perfectly the moment he felt contact.
“Hindi four pero para sa akin talaga 'yung play. It just so happened na nandun na ako sa four-point line,” he shared.
Asked if there was a time when he felt nervous in all those four shots, Asistio pointed to the second of the four foul shots who had him feeling a bit nervous.
“'Yung pangalawa,” he stated. “Kasi pag-release ko medyo parang short eh, buti na lang umawa.”
With nerves of steel and the confidence to take the biggest shot regardless of the situation, Guiao deciding to go to Asistio with the game on the line shouldn’t come as a surprise.
For the 5’10 guard, it’s all about repaying that trust – which is exactly what he did to win the game for the Elasto Painters late.
“'Yun nga, malaking bagay talaga 'yung trust na binibigay sa akin ni Coach Yeng," he said. "Siyempre kailangan ko suklian 'yun. Thankfully, feeling ko nasuklian ko naman."
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