AS Jack Cruz-Dumont fired what looked like a game-winning trey for University of the East, Mathew Montebon gave an ice-cold response of his own to save Adamson from outright elimination.
Moments before Cruz-Dumont's three-pointer put UE ahead, 61-60 with 6.4 seconds left, Montebon shared what was said in a short but friendly exchange with his rookie counterpart from the Red Warriors.
READ: Montebon's last-gasp game-winner vs UE rescues Adamson's Final Four hopes
"Vince (Magbuhos) was shooting a free throw and I told him, 'Don’t hit the shot on me' because I was guarding him. He (Jack Cruz-Dumont) was like, 'Imma end you guys’ season.'
"And then I was like, 'Okay.' And then he hit the shot and then walking back, he was like 'I told you.' And our play happened and obviously, I hit the shot," Montebon shared.
On-court antics aside, the Falcons rookie gave further insight on what went through his mind just as he dealt the winning dagger.
"During the shot, it was just a clear mind. Just playing basketball and then when it went in, I was like, 'Oh shoot,' and then, I had the whole crowd go crazy so I got kinda energetic and then the coaches told me to calm down and that was about it," Montebon bared.
Adamson head coach Nash Racela added how he wanted his wards to shrug off Cruz-Dumont's clutch triple and shift their gears towards saving their season.
"We didn’t talk about what happened. Coach Gilbert designed the play because that was our possession so, hindi na kailangan pagusapan yun yung nangyari. How do we approach the next possession, that’s what we did, and that’s what the players did — execute," Racela said.
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