Entering the 2019 PBA D-League Finals, the odds were heavily stacked against the Centro Escolar University Scorpions.
Besides playing with just seven players on a good day, they were going up against a well-oiled machine that is the Cignal-Ateneo Blue Eagles.
And the first game of the best-of-five series showed it, as Cignal-Ateneo ran roughshod on CEU, picking up the most lopsided finals game in D-League history, 101-66.
Still, Derrick Pumaren never lost faith in his boys.
“In four games that we only played seven, we were 3-1. And then including Game One, we were 3-2. So you must be good to be here. It’s not chamba.
“We play seven guys with an eight-man lineup, but we are still here. We are still standing out of the twenty teams. So, we must be good to be here,” the decorated tactician emphasized.
“We just got to believe that we can do it. We showed that we have heart. We showed the team that was scappy nung kailangan namin. Game One wala. Totally outclassed kami. Masyado naming nirespeto yung Ateneo,” he continued.
Besides being outclassed, Jerome Santos admitted that they were starstruck to share the court with the UAAP champions.
“Noong Game One, iba. Idol namin yan,” gushed Santos.
Five days after their disastrous Game One, the Scorpions were once again getting manhandled by the Blue Eagles, falling behind by double-digits early.
But unlike Game One, the Scorpions did not allow themselves to run out of the Ynares Sports Arena.
“It’s more of motivational, trying to make sure that they believe in themselves and that they can be in the same league as Ateneo. I wanted to see the fight and competitiveness in them,” said Pumaren.
“And they showed it.”
“Actually lahat kami sinasabihan ni coach na natataranta na naman kami, ganun, ta’s pinapaalala niya sa’min yung mga play namin, i-execute lang namin nang maayos,” Santos recalled.
CEU stormed back with a huge third quarter to lead by one entering the final frame. Behind Santos and Malick Diouf they would lead by as much as 10 points with five minutes left in the game.
“Kailangan lang makipaglaban sa rebound na iyon, tapos sabi ng coach namin na guard lagi sa rebound na iyon. Iyun lang,” said Santos, who had 10 rebounds in his name.
But Cignal-Ateneo stormed back, tying the game at 69-all with two minutes remaining.
The Scorpions though said not today as they knocked down their freebies while Rich Guinitaran providing a clutch bucket to give CEU a 77-74 lead with about 10 seconds left.
“I think we were able to redeem ourselves today. We were able to show up in a championship game.”
Luck then played a big factor in the endgame as Adrian Wong and SJ Belangel missed clean looks that would have sent the game into overtime.
But luck only strikes once. For these Scorpions, they have been doing this for the last five games.
And they are hoping that it would strike two more times to complete the biggest upset in D-League history.
“Sana tapos na eh, no? I’m sure that Ateneo will be back. I’m sure that they will be more aggressive, they want to jump on us. On Thursday, we just have to be ready for them,” declared Pumaren.
“We are happy with this win but we cannot be too happy about it because the series is not yet over. Hindi dapat na maging masaya kami with just one win. We want to give them a championship series.”
