JAPETH Aguilar emerged as the leading scorer of Barangay Ginebra in Friday’s loss to San Miguel in the PBA Philippine Cup despite playing hurt.
Aguilar said he suffered from cramps in the first half of their 95-92 loss to the Beermen at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum, the reason why there were parts of the game where he was noticeably limping.
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The Ginebra big man even fell on his own while chasing a loose ball late in the third quarter that led to an uncontested lay-up by Mo Tautuaa.
Apparently, the cramps were not a result of an on-court incident.
Aguilar revealed their airconditioning unit in their home broke down on Thursday night, and the summer heat apparently took its toll on him on game day, a predicament that he thought wouldn’t happen.
“I was cramping actually,” said Aguilar. “Nagka-cramps na ako first half pa lang. Pero ‘yung mga uncontrollable na circumstance outside the court na.”
“Nasira ‘yung aircon namin last night,” said Aguilar with a smile, looking a bit embarrassed. “I thought hindi makaka-affect sa game kanina pero na-feel ko na dehydrated ako. Pero no excuse."
Aguilar still finished with 17 points and four rebounds,while shooting 7-of-11 from the field. He even scored on a dunk when he faked off June Mar Fajardo, then drove to the baseline and finished strong.
'SMB is team to beat'
But in the end, Aguilar said the poor start where they were outscored, 33-18, in the first quarter led to their downfall.
“Obviously, you have to give credit to San Miguel. They are really the team to beat this all-Filipino. Grabe ‘yung nilalaro nila. Sobrang deep ng bench nila. The list goes on,” said Aguilar.
“’Yung napag-usapan namin, we just can’t have a start na katulad nung game namin kanina. We can’t have a slow start like that against a team like San Miguel,” he added.
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