IN a game of runs, whoever runs out of gas first usually gets left behind.
National U had the early burst. Ateneo had the stronger finish.
The Bulldogs built a 17-point lead in the first half, only for the Blue Eagles to flip the game around and hand them an 87-76 loss on Saturday.
For team captain Reinhard Jumamoy, it was not simply a matter of Ateneo making a comeback.
READ: Ateneo sends loudest statement yet by taking down NU
It was a matter of NU shooting itself in the foot.
“Yung composure namin siguro yun nga. Sinabi naman ni Coach Jeff [Napa] na yung pinakamahirap na gawin is maging consistent,” Jumamoy told SPIN.ph.
And that was exactly what the Jhocson team failed to do.
Coming off a statement win over University of the Philippines, the Bulldogs carried plenty of confidence into their next game.
But according to Jumamoy, that confidence also lifted the team team’s morale a little too high that it became a detriment — at least in this game.
“Siguro yung kumpiyansa lang namin, yung morale namin sa team na tumaas,” he said after finishing with 15 points, five rebounds, and five assists.
“Sinabi ni coach Pao [Javelona] sa amin na kailangan namin isipin yung not too high, not too low. Kasi doon kami mag-grow as a team and as an individual na kailangan namin maging consistent sa mga bagay na kailangan namin pagtrabahuan.”
That was the lesson NU was left with after watching its big lead disappear.
Head coach Jeff Napa walked out of the dugout after the game, frustrated by the result but confident enough in his players to let them reflect on what went wrong.
And Jumamoy did just that.
“Sayang nalang eh kasi grabe namin nagtrabaho namin ng UP,” he said.
“Parang sa kalaban namin ngayon, hindi kami naging consistent, parang pinabayaan namin.”
The fourth-year playmaker himself had his own share of the lapses.
He made big plays to keep the gold-and-blue alive when Ateneo started pulling away late, only to commit a turnover down the stretch.
Still, his teammates continued to trust him with the ball because for the veteran guard, that became another learning experience in his role as the player the younger Bulldogs look up to.
“Sabi ko sa sarili ko na yung huling babagsak yung ulo dapat ako,” he said.
“Kasi ako yung leader, ako yung nilook up ng mga bata. Yun yung kailangan kong labanan yung sarili ko na maging stronger mind.”
After the final buzzer, the 5-foot-11 Jumamoy admitted that the effort NU put in was not enough to cover for the mistakes it made down the stretch.
“Sobrang sakit kasi nilaban ko naman siya pero at the end of the buzzer, hindi sapat yung effort na binibigay namin, yung lapses namin, ang dami,” he said.
So instead of dwelling on the collapse, NU will go back to the drawing board.
For Jumamoy, that means watching the film, owning the mistakes, and making sure the Bulldogs do not carry the same approach into their next game.
“Back to the drawing board kami bukas lalo na ako na manood talaga ako ng film,” he said.
And if Napa trusted his players to figure things out on their own after the loss, Jumamoy showed why.
The Bulldogs know what went wrong,
Now, they have to prove they can learn from it.
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