Game One was a microcosm of Jiovani Jalalon’s journey in the NCAA, as the Cagayan de Oro native has had to battle through many challenges to get to where he is today.
This season’s finals series is seen as Jio Jalalon’s make-or-break moment; either he cements his legacy, or falls like the nine other teams in the last 11 years that have failed against the San Beda Red Lions.
Thursday afternoon, Jalalon had to overcome but, at the end of day, fell short.
After going down by as many as 13 points in the first half, Jalalon fought off foul trouble, scoring nine points in the third frame to lift Arellano back in the game. The Cagayan de Oro native and the Chiefs fought toe-to-toe with the league-leaders in the final frame. But as Jalalon nailed the game-tying triple with 5:19 left, the guard dubbed as the best floor general in Collegiate basketball cramped up.
A collective gasp enveloped the Mall of Asia Arena as Jalalon crumpled in pain. Fortunately for the Arellano faithful, the 24-year-old was able to return to the floor with 2:41 left. And it was just at the nick of time, as San Beda were up by just a solitary point.
Lervin Flores gave Arellano the lead later on, but the Chiefs could not take advantage of San Beda’s turnovers. A sorry miss by Flores led to the game-winning layup by Robert Bolick with 1:16 left in the game.
“Nakabalik na kami eh. Sayang. Yung sakit talaga. Nandoon na kami, nakalamang na kami ng isa, nag-relax pa,” Jalalon reflected after the game.
“Nung ni-layup ni Lervin, kung na-shoot yun, alam kong tapos na eh kasi kung na-shoot yun, lamang kami ng tatlo,” he lamented.
“Move on na lang kami, bawi na lang. Ganun lang naman yun eh.”
The Chiefs, however, had a shot at retaking the lead in the waning seconds of the game. With 27.1 seconds left on the clock, Jalalon called for an isolation play that left him against Robert Bolick, anointed the “Bus Stopper” by the Bedans. As the floor general drove to the left, his knee tightened up once again — a result of his gruelling grind this season.
“Alam ko na nung kinuha ko yung bola, na-feel ko na gusto ko i-shoot pero yung paa ko talaga, yung right naman ang gusto mag-cramps,” he reflected.
The discomfort he felt had forced him to make the pass to Dioncee Holts, but the American student-athlete missed a wide-open jumper with 3.7 seconds remaining. For Jalalon, it would have been a different story if the shot had gone in.
“Nakita ko si D na ang layo ng tao niya kaya binigay ko na. May tiwala naman ako sa kanya kaysa naman itira ko at ma-error. Useless,” he rued.
“Nagtiwala din ako sa teammate ko. Kung na-shoot nya yun, iba.”
The result was still the same as the last three times the two squads have met.
Tuesday is Arellano’s win-or-go-home game, and in what could be Jalalon’s last game of his NCAA career, he is hoping that he could flip the script — and for once let Arellano experience their first Finals win…  at the very least.
“Wala na kaming ibang iniisip kung hindi bumawi. Tapos na yung apat na games na talo kami lagi. Gusto lang namin makabawi kami sa Game 2.”
And winning that one game can change the dynamic of the series.
