RHENZ Abando felt helpless as he was limited to a spectator when University of Santo Tomas melted down and bowed to Adamson, 78-71.
Suffering some pains on his right leg, the Sto. Tomas, La Union native was benched late as the Growling Tigers lost a 71-62 lead in the final 3:07 on Wednesday in the UAAP basketball tournament at MOA Arena.
"Syempre malungkot. Sayang, sayang na naman," said Abando, who finished with nine points on a 3-of-7 shooting from the field in just 18 minutes of play.
The 6-foot-3 forward also felt regret, saying he could have braved the pain. He was limited to his lowest output after averaging 16.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in the team's first four games this UAAP Season 82.
"Mahirap manood na lang," he said. "Mali ko rin kasi sana tiniis ko na lang yung sakit."
Abando had an awkward landing when he chased down Jerom Lastimosa at the second quarter but still played through it.
That was until Lenda Douanga inadvertently kneed the 21-year-old's right leg and he asked to be subbed out at the 3:24 mark of the payoff period, never returning to the game.
Abando, however, allayed fears of him missing UST's next games, with Far Eastern University waiting in the wings on Sunday at Ynares Center in Antipolo.
"Di na siya masakit, di na ipapa-check," he said. "Kaya naman next game."
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
