Allen Durham was straight-faced as he went out of the SMART Araneta Coliseum’s dugout, Sunday night. Moments earlier, he and the Meralco Bolts lost to Barangay Ginebra, pushing them into a 0-2 hole in the Finals.
“We let it get away,” rued the 29-year-old American, talking about the Bolts’ failure to sustain a six-point lead in the game’s final six minutes that allowed the Gin Kings to sneak past and come out victorious with an 86-76 decision.
The loss made the Michigan-native’s night totally sour not because it put into naught his 25-point, 22-rebound production, but also because it spoiled his return to the throne as the Governors’ Cup’s Best Import.
“I won it back-to-back. That’s about it,” said Durham, who is averaging 26 points and 19 boards in the series, “It spoiled a little bit of everything.
“When you play good for 44 minutes, and then we come out with a loss, it’s kind of hard to take.”
Still, Durham noted the positives that he and the Orangemen were able to do in Game Two despite the result. ““We played a whole lot better than Game One. Everybody was focused,” he said, “I think we played a lot better on defense.
“They just made some big plays down the stretch.”
And despite being down for two games now in the best-of-seven clash, the soft-spoken reinforcement remains positive that the Bolts are still capable of pulling out a much-needed win on Game Three this coming Wednesday.
“You got to move forward. Good thing is we’re not too deep in the hole. We still can come back,” said Durham.
“We got to focus on Game Three and get that win, find a way to get that win on Wednesday.”
