After figuring in two losses against the San Beda Red Lions and the Emilio Aguinaldo Generals, coach TY Tang and the College of Saint Benilde Blazers thought they had seen everything. But come Tuesday afternoon, they met a different beast in the form of the Lyceum Pirates.
“Para naming kinalaban si Mike Tyson at Manny Pacquiao for ten rounds, and every round we just got beaten up, beaten up, beaten up,” Tang reflected.
And it was a beatdown of historic proportions.
Besides the 43-point demolition (a Lyceum-record), the Pirates set season-highs for turnovers forced (40), fastbreak points (26), bench points (70), biggest lead (46), and biggest winning margin (43).
“They [Lyceum] are the better team, that’s for sure. But just the manner that we lost, that’s just crazy,” the first-year Saint Benilde coach admitted.
“Some of the turnovers we had, they were just stupid, foolish, dumb, kung ano pang word na pwedeng sabihin. Parang we were like high school kids out there playing against a college team.”
But with 14 more games remaining on their ledger, the 32-year-old former PBA pro says that they can’t dwell on the losses. They have no other choice but to get up quickly, as they are set to go on the road on Thursday, August 3, against the Letran Knights.
“What’s done is done. We just have to move forward, look up ahead, who’s our next opponent, and try to work again within the game plan that we are going to prepare for,” Tang declared.
As the post-game scrum ended, members of the press wished him well for a comeback on their next games. He smiled with hope and replied.
“Yun [bawi] naman ang battle cry namin every game!”
– By: Danine Cruz
