At least half an hour had passed since Mahindra’s tough 84-86 loss to TNT, but Alex Mallari was still wearing his jersey, staring blankly at his locker and, later on, slamming the towel draped around his neck.
“Yeah, every loss is frustrating,” Mallari said.
But unlike their last five losses this conference that saw them lose by an average of just 2.5 points, this one was a tough pill to swallow for the five-year league veteran.
With just five seconds remaining in the game and the Floodbuster down three points, the 6-foot-4 swingman, for some reason, drove through the lane and tried to scoop a lay-up over Donte Greene. The shot — a two-point shot for that matter — was way too strong and eventually led to their downfall.
“I don’t know… It was just an out-of-body experience,” confessed Mallari, who finished the game with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
“It was a nightmare. It was on me and just move on to the next game.”
It was not just Mallari who committed a crucial late game error during that game, however. With 31 ticks remaining, LA Revilla sued for a timeout with 11 seconds remaining in the shot clock, while Jason Deutchmann attempted an early three-pointer with 17 seconds left when they were down by just two.
Still, it was Mallari who took full responsibility for the loss.
“We had that last play… And just like I said, that’s what makes the best teams great — executing down the stretch,” the 30-year-old lamented.
“But we’re not there yet and it falls on me, Keith [Wright], and the rest of the team’s leaders. I take responsibility for that last shot and this game.”
