Jayson Castro refused to hang his head despite his TNT KaTropa suffering a stinging 125-127 double-overtime loss to the San Miguel Beermen in Game Two of the 2019 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals, Wednesday evening.
The veteran court general commended his side’s valiant efforts, which saw them climb back from a 17-point hole in the second quarter. They then took a 121-118 lead after Troy Rosario’s freebies with 2:22 left to play.
TNT still had a chance to snatch the win through a triple, even. Unfortunately, Castro then missed both of his attempts as time wound down.
“For me – tsaka para sa team – hindi tough loss yun kasi binigay namin yung best namin,” said Castro, who finished with 27 points, 12 assists, and eight rebounds in over 50 minutes of playing time.
“We were down pero hinabol namin.”
“If we only made our free throws, pero ganun talaga. Sayang,” lamented head coach Bong Ravena.
Castro also expressed his satisfaction with TNT’s character after Terrence Jones and Rosario got ejected.
Jones got booted out with 3:11 left in the first overtime for incurring his second technical foul. Rosario then followed suit when he got his sixth personal foul – a loose ball foul on June Mar Fajardo – with 1:15 left in the match.
“Even if na-eject siya (Jones) at na-foul out si Troy, nandun pa rin kami sa game eh,” Castro said.
Still, Castro said the KaTropa can learn from their loss, especially heading into Game Three this Friday.
“Experience rin sa’min tsaka sa mga young guys. Yes marami kaming pagkakamali, pero lesson learned,” Castro said.
“So para sa’min, para rin sa’kin at sa mga player namin, kailangan namin matuto sa mga ganyan sitwasyon.”
“What can we do? We can’t do anything about this loss. We can only prepare for the next game,” closed Ravena.
