The Phoenix-FEU Accelerators survived a late rally from the resurgent Cafè France-CEU Bakers to take Game One of the 2016 PBA D-League Aspirants Cup Finals.
As usual, Phoenix received a huge boost from off-the-bench stalwarts Mac Belo and Roger Pogoy. Both were pivotal on both ends of the court, with Belo compiling 15 points, 13 boards, and three blocks while Pogoy tallied a game-high 18 points with nine rebounds.
“Blessings lang siguro, swerte ba,” said Pogoy. “Hindi ko nga akalain na papasok ‘yung mga stepback ko. Siguro araw ko ngayon.”
“Medyo aggressive lang (ako kanina). Maganda din ‘yung depensa nang kabilang team. Kailangan talagang dumiin na – kailangan high percentage na kasi championship na,” Belo added.
Just a few months back, the pair towed FEU to its first UAAP Championship in 10 years. Now looking to win their first semi-pro title, Belo and Pogoy differed in their perspective in comparing the UAAP Finals to the D-League’s.
Roger Pogoy drives past Rod Abondo
For the always-confident Pogoy, he felt more pressured under the bright lights and humungous crowd of the UAAP.
“Iba ‘yung UAAP, ang daming tao. Iba dito (D-League). Okay din naman dito kaso iba pa rin ‘yung pressure sa UAAP.”
The low-key, stoic Belo, the more-experienced D-League cagers present a new challenge and the pressure to win a championship never subsides, no matter the league.
“Malaki kasi sa D-League semi-pro ‘yung mga naglalaro – medyo gulang at experienced na rin,” Belo thought. “Same lang naman ‘yung pressure. Championship rin ‘to. Hindi naman mawawala ‘yun.”
Nonetheless, neither see this best-of-five series over until they win three.
“Mahaba pa ‘yung series. Hindi pa namin masabi na amin na ito kasi kailangan pa namin ng dalawang panalo. Kung ano i-adjust nila, dapat mag-adjust din kami,” the UAAP Season 78 Men’s Basketball Finals MVP shared.
“Mahaba pa ‘yung series kaya wala pa kaming dapat ika-relax. Maghahanda pa rin kami. Basta gagawin namin ‘yung best namin,”
