All throughout the conference, Calvin Abueva has made a living out of making game-saving stops for the Phoenix Fuel Masters.
Sunday evening though, he was on the receiving end of it.
With the Fuel Masters trailing by a precarious one-point deficit, 97-98, in the last eight seconds, the slashing Matthew Wright lured two Ginebra defenders and found a wide-open Abueva in the left wing for a supposedly easy lay-up.
But Aguilar came out of nowhere, swatting Abueva’ shot which proved to be the game-changing play in the Gin Kings’ narrow 100-97 victory.
For Abueva, there’s nothing he can do about it, crediting Aguilar’s outstretched arms that muffed his supposed to be game-winner for the Fuel Masters.
“Mahaba eh. Wala tayong magagawa,” said Abueva on his long-time Gilas Pilipinas teammate.
“Hindi pumasok pero open na eh…. Na–Japeth Aguilar eh.”
Nevertheless, Abueva that he would not lose sleep over that crucial block, reiterating his happiness on the performance of Fuel Masters who still executed down to the last possession with the breaks of the game not just falling on their side.
“Wala sa akin yun.
“Ang importante, ginawa namin ang trabaho namin ng maayos. Muntik pa kaming manalo eh. Pero nandoon pa rin yung sistema namin na maglaro as a team,” added Abueva who held his own against Ginebra giants with 15 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.
Amid this loss, Abueva also remains hopeful of their top seed chances, knowing that their fate of clinching one of the twice-to-beat incentives still relies on their hands even against the ever mighty and four-time champ San Miguel Beer.
“Paghahandaan namin ito. Crucial na game ito para nasa top seed kami,” he concluded.
