The Perpetual Help Altas rallied from a double-digit deficit against the San Beda Red Lions in the fourth quarter Tuesday, although fell short towards the end.
The result may not be the one they wanted, but for big man Bright Akhuetie, there is a silver lining in the Altas’ 81-83 setback.
“From what I saw, at least we know we can beat them,” Akhuetie said.
“I thought we were going to win, because we had all the chances to win. We blew it all down the line. But I am happy because we can learn from this experience.”
Akhuetie finished with 25 points, 16 rebounds, and 6 steals in a losing effort. Asked about his match up with Red Lions big Ola Adeogun, Akhuetie said he treated it like any other game.
“I just came here to play like every single game.”
Moving forward, the Altas rookie reminded his teammates that the defending champions are not invincible if they can exert the same effort the next time the two teams collide.
“I told them now we know we can beat them if we come out this way again and make less mistakes. It is okay. We are good,” he said.
The other aspects of the game Akhuetie wants the Altas to improve on is their free throws and rebounding.
The Altas shot a miserable 11-for-24 from the stripe and were out-rebounded 49-45. Akhuetie believes if the Altas can solve these woes, they will have a better chance.
“I did not know why. I don’t want to say pressure. It just happens,” he quipped about free throw shooting.
“We have to go back and work on our box-out. We have to take these guys out so we can get the ball,” he added.
“We will go back and see what we did wrong to make it right.”
