JAPETH Aguilar played through a broken tooth in Barangay Ginebra’s defeat against NLEX on Sunday in the PBA Governors’ Cup.
Aguilar had to come back to the dugout during the third quarter of the Gin Kings’ 103-99 overtime loss to the Road Warriors after he was inadvertently hit by a challenge by NLEX forward Tony Semerad in the face.
“He lost a couple of teeth,” said Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone after the game.
Despite his condition, Aguilar was still able to play in the fourth quarter and overtime. He finished with 22 points and nine rebounds in 37 minutes of action, something that Cone is proud off.
READ: NLEX takes last quarterfinals spot by beating Ginebra in OT
“Him coming back and playing, he could have sat out and not come back. But he wanted to come back and play in the fourth quarter. Got to give him a lot of props for that because it wasn’t an easy thing to come back from,” said Cone
When asked for his side, Semerad said he apologized to Aguilar shortly after the hit and even upon his return.
“I said sorry. It was an accident on the drive. I didn’t want to hurt anyone,” said Semerad.
Aside from Aguilar, Justin Brownlee also got hurt in the game after suffering from cramps in the overtime period. But the Barangay Ginebra import never returned in the game.
Cone also said the team is fortunate that Aguilar didn’t sustain a major injury, just like Brownlee. The Gin Kings are scheduled to meet Meralco in the best-of-five quarterfinals.
“He’s got an appointment at the dentist (Monday) and we will see. We are trying to make sure that it’s not during practice so we can use him (in the preparations). Hopefully, he should be okay as well,” said Cone.
“Luckily, it was his teeth and not a broken nose or jaw or something like that. It’s something that the dentist can repair."
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