After bringing the San Beda College Red Lions nine points above the Lyceum Pirates with 35 seconds left through a layup, 91-82, Robert Bolick was in a state of euphoria. He ran to the San Beda crowd, shouted, and engaged the fans in celebration.
The 21-year-old had just survived a grueling Game One encounter against the league-leaders.
Man, Robert Bolick is BALLING. #NCAASeason93 #NCAAStrong pic.twitter.com/WRTqwoTDEv
— ABS-CBN Sports (@abscbnsports) November 10, 2017
But coach Boyet Fernandez rushed from the bench, grabbed his point guard, and brought him back to earth. After all, the final buzzer hadn’t rung yet.
Apparently, Bolick’s shouting was just his way of coping with fatigue. After all, he had just played for 35 grueling minutes.
“[Lyceum is] a good team, so nung last quarter, hindi ko na talaga kaya, pagod na pagod na ako. Feeling ko, hindi ko na talaga kaya, kaya sumisigaw na lang ako sa last, kasi naghahanap na ako ng motivation na kaya ko pa, laban lang, isisigaw ko na lang yung pagod para sa team,” said Bolick, who finished the game with 24 points in 35 minutes of action.
“Ganoon talaga ako maglaro, pag na-shoot sumisigaw. So I just want to feel the crowd, siyempre San Beda.“
But since the job was not yet completely done, Fernandez had to realign and refocus his team, especially his top gunner Bolick.
“Well, it’s not yet finished. Remember, we’re up by nine, and we enjoyed it. Then five points straight for them. So it’s not yet finished. Don’t celebrate until the final buzzer sounds. Until we’ve won the game, we don’t celebrate,” the San Beda mentor recalled.
Eventually, Bolick’s celebration and fatigue were not in vain. The Red Lions contained the Pirates to finally topple them for the first time this season, 94-87, to take first blood in this best-of-three finals series.
But can anyone blame Bolick? He had finally been about to take revenge on the only team that had brought them to the losing column this season. His outburst was simply natural.
“Ang galing talaga ng Lyceum. Feeling ko sa buong career ko sa basketball, sila yung pinaka-magaling na team na nakalaban ko,” shared the combo guard.
“Minsan sa gabi, mapapaisip ka kung anong kailangan mong gawin, matutulog ka ba ng maaga, kakain ka ba ng maayos? Kasi ‘yung Marcelino Twins [Jayvee and Jaycee], hindi napapagod, [Reymar] Caduyac, ang galing. [Mike] Nzeusseu, [CJ] Perez, guys from the bench, Coach Topex [Robinson], they are a good team.”
In their last two encounters, the Pirates had run the show. But today, it was the Red Lions’ turn.
Will the King Lion’s next celebration be for a trophy? We’ll only know in the next games — or the next game.
Video courtesy of ABS-CBN Sports+Action
