JUST three days after turning in his second-worst scoring game of 2-of-12 makes in La Salle's one-point loss to Adamson, Earl Abadam made amends with a resurgent performance against the University of the Philippines.
In their must-win rematch of last year's finals, Abadam emptied his quiver with 14 points, two rebounds, and two assists.
Not only that, the co-captain turned on late-game heroics - when just last Wednesday, his missed three proved to be the wrong decision against the Soaring Falcons.
READ: Abadam has no regrets taking endgame trey in La Salle's one-point loss
This time, though, with 33 seconds left and the Green Archers nursing a five-point lead, Abadam connected on a stepback jumper near the free throw line to give them more breathing room.
After Gerry Abadiano's triple kept the Fighting Maroons coming to just down four, he found himself on the line after a foul thanks to Reyland Torres.
And despite La Salle’s longstanding struggles at the charity stripe, Abadam went a perfect two-for-two, sealing their 87-82 win.
“Oh, yeah, it feels very good. Like I said, I didn't worry about my shot because that's a shot I work on. That's a shot I take every time, man,” he said.
Even after garnering a bit of backlash from his previous performance, Abadam tuned out the naysayers and stayed true to his grind.
“I didn't really look at what was online,” he told SPIN.ph. “That doesn't affect me because I know that it's only about our team and what we can do and what we can bring.”
According to Abadam, the Green Archers' practice on Friday was crucial in ironing out the chinks in their armor State U could have exploited.
As he explained, “We came into practice yesterday knowing that this is gonna be a grind-out game. This is gonna be a game that comes down to possessions, comes down to little stops. And it came down to that.”
“We knew that we’re gonna come into this game prepared and ready, and that’s the result that came up.”
La Salle looking for more
Even after another elimination round sweep of their new-age rivals, Abadam maintained that this was far from their best and there is more to be worked on than there is to be celebrated.
“We can’t change anything. We’re gonna have to go back tomorrow, watch film, and practice hard,” he said.
Even if his redemptive performance stands as one of his best this season, the 6-foot-4 wing isn’t about to pat himself on the back for good.
“We have to stay locked in, as this isn’t the finals. Like we knew what we were supposed to do in those situations, and it came out how we practiced, but this is just another step to the finals,” he said.
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