A PBA title remains elusive for Allen Durham.
The 6-foot-5 American’s quest for a championship in the Filipino pro league continues. His Meralco Bolts bowed out of the 2018 Governors’ Cup after losing to the Alaska Aces in Game Four of the semis, Saturday night.
“It’s hard to swallow,” said Durham after the 92-99 loss. “But Alaska, they played hard. They won three games in a row, they’re very deserving of where they’re at right now.
“It’s not how we wanted to go out but I wish Alaska the best.”
The Bolts were actually seen as the favorites in the series thanks to their superb run. They made it all the way to semis despite starting 1-6 and a twice-to-beat disadvantage versus Phoenix Fuel Masters in the quarters.
Including their series-opener victory over the Aces, the Bolts won a whopping seven straight games.
But then, fatigue started to kick in, and the injury bug bit them anew as Cliff Hodge and Jared Dillinger got hurt shortly after recovering. But as much as those were huge factors, Durham isn’t making any excuses.
“We can’t really come up with excuses you know, injuries happen to key players. That’s no excuse because when we made it to the Finals, we had some injuries too. We just didn’t execute in this series like we should have and it hurt us.”
As his fourth PBA tour of duty – Durham played first for the now-defunct Barako Bull franchise in 2014 – has come to an end, Durham plans to get some rest first. But the 29-year-old’s plan stays the same: Get a PBA championship.
“That’s my plan. I’m still trying to get a ring so I’m gonna keep working until I can’t run or jump no more,” the two-time defending Best Import said.
“We’ll see what happens.”
