If he had a choice, second-year San Sebastian Golden Stags head coach Egay Macaraya would probably have chosen to spend his 56th birthday in a different way. But with the circumstances given to his team, Macaraya settled for the best birthday gift he could receive this year: ending San Sebastian’s six-year Final Four drought.
“Yes, yes, yes. Alam mo ‘yung pinag-hirapan namin sa Baste, every win maganda talaga para sa amin but nandiyan na kami sa Final Four, it’s a different feeling talaga,” Macaraya expressed.
And this was probably the most nerve-wrecking birthday he celebrated as the Golden Stags needed to dig deep to survive the Letran Knights. And he has to thank Michael Calisaan and Ryan Costelo for making it all happen.
“Talagang nag-focus lang ako. Tahimik ako kanina sa dugout, iniisip ko po kung ano yung mga gagawin ko para manalo,” said Calisaan, who finished with a career-high 36 points to lead San Sebastian to a 74-69 win.
“Gustong-gusto ko po talaga manalo ngayon, lalo na birthday ni Coach Egay.”
“Talagang pag pinapasok ako ni coach, one-hundred percent ang binibigay ko, depensa tapos sine-set ko ang mga teammates ko,” added Costelo, who scored nine of his 13 points in the final frame.
Once he heard this, Macaraya beamed with the way the Golden Stags matured this season.
“Well, number one deserving yung mga bata. With all the hard work na ginagawa nila, sacrifices, and especially sa nilalaro nila ngayon, I think we deserve to be in the Final Four,” Macaraya added.
“Hopefully, ito na ‘yung start ng medyo magandang character ng San Sebastian.”
And with San Sebastian advancing to the next stage of the stepladder, Macaraya is postponing his birthday plans.
“Ayaw ko mag-birthday ng hindi kami malalasing,” the multi-time NAASCU champion head coach quipped.
