The standings fail to reflect how good of a team Arellano University has been in the NCAA Season 99 Seniors Basketball Tournament.
Though the Chiefs are at the bottom of the standings, many of their losses have come from close bouts with Final Four contenders such as College of Saint Benilde, Emilio Aguinaldo College, and even an overtime session against Lyceum of the Philippines University.
The one aspect of the game in which the Chiefs continually fall short is their performance in crunch time. They struggle to find a go-to guy to help them score in the closing seconds of the game.
In their 74-72 upset victory over San Beda University, the Chiefs may have just found their man in Jade Talampas.
With the Red Lions in control of the lead, Talampas scored the final nine points of the match for Arellano, including the game-winning three-pointer with 16 seconds left on the game clock.
“Siguro yung iniisip ko lang palaging nagkukulang yung finishing touches, yung pagseal ng game. Most of the time karamihan ng mga past few games namin natatalo kami dahil nagkakaroon ng breaks of the game, wala kaming pang finish, so inisip ko na someone needs to step up para ipakita namin yung best namin; kung paano kami maglaro talaga,” explained Talampas after the Chiefs ended a 14-game skid to the Red Lions.
“Regarding doon sa last possession na iyon, wala akong iniisip kundi yung sinabi ni coach sa akin, ‘Focus ka lang, darating yung bola sa iyo.’ Ginawa namin, and luckily naka-survive kami ng game na iyon, talagang once in a lifetime experience para sa amin yung game na ito.”
The moment came poetically for Talampas, who is an alumnus of San Beda University-Taytay, where he played for three years under the tutelage of the late Ato Badolato.
With Talampas playing in his final year for Arellano, his late-game heroics helped keep his squad’s hopes of making the Final Four alive as the Chiefs attempt to climb the standings from their 2-8 record.
The sharpshooting senior knows Arellano is far better than what their record depicts, and with his late-game heroics over his alma mater, Talampas gave a massive confidence boost to the Chiefs as they attempt to rally from the bottom of the standings and make a last push into the playoffs in his final year.
Though many things have to go their way before they can dig themselves out of their hole, the Chiefs’ head coach, Chico Manabat, knows that a lot can still happen in the unpredictable NCAA season.
“At least there’s a chance, we have eight games more. Sabi natin diba sasamahan namin ng trabaho at luck ‘yan. Maraming mga surprises na hindi maasahan. Alam naman natin sa NCAA maraming surprises ‘yan. Doon lang kami, we’ll stick and focus one game at a time, gagawin lang namin yung best namin kung saan kami aabutin, that’s the opportunity to grow and to learn yung experience namin sa Season 99,” shared Manabat.
For Manabat, he stays unconcerned about their low rank in the standings and constantly reminds his players that they play to win no matter the result.
“Lagi kong nireremind sa kanila, paalis palang kami doon, ang reason namin para pumunta sa Filoil Arena is to win. Sabi ko meron tayong two reasons: manalo at manalo. Para wala na silang takas doon sa panalo. Lucky naman yung hard work talaga ng mga bata na ito nagpay-off,” he continued.
Talampas and the rest of the Chiefs have a bout with another contender next on their schedule as they play season hosts Jose Rizal University next on Sunday at 10:00 a.m.
