RAIN Maga missed his first two attempts from distance, yet when he was in front of the Ateneo bench and coach Tab Baldwin, both of his shots swooshed through the net.
Worse for the Blue Eagles, those two threes were both pivotal – the first tying the game at 54 and the second swinging the lead in favor of University of the East to grab the 57-54 advantage with 3:02 to play.
Those three-pointers proved to be the catalyst in flipping the win from the blue side to red as UE trumped Ateneo with the 69-62 come from behind victory on Wednesday – a first in nine years.
READ: Red-hot UE downs Ateneo for first time since 2015
But Maga clarified that those were purely incidental.
“Nagkataon lang talaga na pumasok yung tira ko nung nasa harap ako ng bench nila. Nagtiwala lang ako sa sarili ko,” he said after putting up eight points, three rebounds, and three assists, as the Recto side continued to incite surprises in the ongoing UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament and moved up to 4-2 in the standings.
What the Davaoeno guard planned, however, was to repay the trust given to him by coach Jack Santiago not just in this game, but also the entirety of this campaign.
“Sobrang thankful ako kay coach dahil kinuha niya ako sa school na ito,” said Maga.
“Sobrang laki ng tiwala niya sa akin throughout the season. Lagi niya akong kinakausap na ganito yung gawin ko sa defense, na kailangan ko ng pride na yung tao ko hindi maka-score. Sobrang thankful ako kay coach sa lahat ng ginagawa niya para sa akin.”
Making it Rain
Santiago, for his part, is just overjoyed to see Maga run riot for the Red Warriors especially with how he stayed the course after sitting out last season.
“Pinagtiyagaan ako niyan, pero alam ko yung kaya niyang gawin kasi I consider him na beterano na rin,” the coach said of the first-year guard from San Beda High School.
“Ang maganda kay Rain, 'pag nakita ko na maganda ang nilalaro niya, hindi siya nagre-relax. 'Pag pinagsasabihan ko yang batang yan, madalas nga sinisigawan ko pa, 'di niya tine-take yun against (me) kasi alam niya na lahat ng sinasabi ko sa kanya is hindi para sa'kin, kundi para sa kanya. And nakikita niyo naman na he’s really responding sa mga instruction ko sa kanya.”
And this only means good returns for Maga, who’s looking to sustain his groove and help UE continue to tread this road back to the Final Four.
“Sobrang laking confidence ito sa team kasi lahat kami nagse-step up. Lahat kami ready bunutin. Kung off man yung isa sa amin, at least may handang mag-step up sa amin para gampanan yung role,” he said.
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