Ian Sangalang set aside health woes as he didn’t want Magnolia to face any more personnel shortages in its PBA Philippine Cup duel with NorthPort, Wednesday.
The 6-foot-7 slotman felt that he suffered dehydration a day before the game, but decided to carry on and play with the Hotshots battered by injuries especially to lead guards Paul Lee (back spasms) and Mark Barroca (calf).
Lee missed their game against Converge last week due to back spasms, while Barroca suffered calf issues in that same game which they lost in overtime. Both stars played against the Batang Pier, albeit in minutes far from their usual.
“Yesterday kasi, parang biglang sobrang sama ng pakiramdam ko after practice. Umuwi ako ng sobrang bigat ng pakiramdam ko so parang na-dehydrate ako,” said Sangalang, who had to take IV fluids hours prior to the game.
“Pero sabi ko, maglalaro ako, no excuse. So kahit ano ‘yung nararamdaman, kahit anong kinalalabasan ng laro ko, maglalaro ako.
“Kaysa naman ‘yung hindi ako maglalaro, siyempre ‘yung mga kasama ko, makikita nila ‘yun na kulang na naman kami. Parang isa na naman sa iniisip nila ‘yun, na kulang kami,” added the eight-year veteran.
Sangalang went on to play a total of 29 minutes and 32 seconds. He registered eight points and 10 rebounds, helping Magnolia to the 80-77 win to finally break through after starting the conference with back-to-back losses.
“Hindi ko na iniinda kung ano ‘yung nararamdaman ko. Parang siyempre, kailangan na kailangan talaga namin manalo eh,” he said.
It was definitely worth it for Sangalang, offering that the win is truly important heading into a killer stretch this week that will see them take on San Miguel on Friday and then Ginebra in another Clasico on Sunday.
“Next game namin is San Miguel tapos Ginebra. So kailangan talaga namin mailusot ‘to,” said the Season 46 Mythical Second team member. “Tapos ‘yung mga next game namin, parang 50-50 ball game ‘yun eh.
“So, pag nailusot namin ‘to, at least mayroon kaming baon na panalo kami after ng game namin, before ‘yung dalawang match-up namin na malalakas.”
For now, though, recovering is on top of his priorities. “Tuloy-tuloy na lang ‘yung recovery para sa game sa Friday and Sunday. Meron pa namang isang araw bukas para sa Friday,” Sangalang said.
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