After three of his teammates suffered heartbreaks in the first three games of the NU Bulldogs this season, fate had his way with John Lloyd Clemente.
“Yung last shot, ganun talaga eh. May pumapasok, may ‘di pumapasok. Sakto, yun yung tira ko,” recalled the 21-year-old NU lifer.
NU had stormed back from a seven-point deficit with two minutes left against the UP Fighting Maroons. They had then cut the lead down to one with 11.6 ticks remaining.
Dave Ildefonso — who led NU’s rally — drove to the lane and found a wide-open Clemente. For the record, the 6-foot-3 swingman had been shooting just 1-of-5 from the field.
Clemente’s shot looked good at the eyes of Ildefonso.
“Tama naman ang desisyon ko na ipasa sa kanya kasi open na open siya. Tapos sa akin, tatlo ang nakabantay — [David] Murrell, Kobe [Paras], at Jun [Manzo] yun eh. ‘Di ko alam kung pa’no ko pa ititira yun,” shared Ildefonso, who had 25 points and five rebounds in the game.
Clemente’s shot ended as an airball, though, leading to another crushing loss for the Bulldogs, 79-80.
Still, Ildefonso had no regrets despite the result.
“Sa judgment ko, tama ang desisyon na pinasa ko sa kanya.
“A hundred-percent ang trust ko kay JLC, even though mababa ang output niya this game at medyo off ang tira niya. Pero that’s the right decision no matter what and I’m sticking to that,” said Ildefonso about his batchmate.
Next time around, though, Clemente vows to knock down his shot.
“Ayun nga, sabi niya, sa susunod, masu-shoot ko na talaga yun!”
