The Columbian Dyip were staring at an 89-91 deficit with 45.8 seconds left to play in their 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup match versus Rain or Shine Sunday. Rookie CJ Perez then took it upon himself to send the game into a deadlock.
An aggressive Perez drove hard to the rim, looking for the shot to tie things up again. Unfortunately, the basketball slipped from his hands, with nobody to save it while it sailed out of bounds with 33.9 ticks left.
That then marked the beginning of the end for the Dyip. They eventually bowed to the Elasto Painters, 90-96.
Perez — who finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds — took part of the blame for the loss with that costly error, which was just one of Columbian’s 29 turnovers. But he’s not dwelling on it, saying that it’s part of the game.
“Part ng basketball yun siyempre, turnover. ‘Di ko naman sinadya, nadulas yung bola. Pero ‘di ko naman… Siyempre sisihin ko yung sarili ko pero ano, part ng basketball,” said the Lyceum of the Philippines product.
“So ‘di lang naman yung isang pagkakamali yung titingnan ng mga coaches.”
The loss has sent Columbian to a 1-1 record. Still, for Perez, the conference has a long way to go, and they have more to learn.
And one thing they can improve, according to the 25-year-old, is closing out games.
“[One thing to improve is] Paano namin tatapusin yung laro. Yun yung ifa-find out namin kung paano,” he said. “And siyempre, yung depensa nung Rain or Shine talagang maganda eh, yung last quarter.
“So maraming salamat sa kanila, natuto kami.”
