Flashes of a massive upset showed on Tuesday afternoon when St. Clare College-Virtual Reality held a wide 46-28 lead over Cignal-Ateneo during their 2019 PBA D-League faceoff at the JCSGO Gym in Cubao, Quezon City.
But it didn’t push through.
Ateneo woke up in the third quarter and reverted to their usual selves, scorching hot from the field en route to 37 big points in the period alone while limiting St. Clare to just 11 points to head into the final frame with the lead, 66-55.
The game then became a one-sided affair in favor of the reigning two-time UAAP gold medalists, who would go home with an 88-66 victory to stretch their winning streak to three and to seize second place of the Aspirants’ Group.
“Nung third quarter nagrelax kami eh. Maganda ginawa namin nung first half pero nung bumalik kami, nagrelax yung iba. Napabayaan namin yung tira nila sa labas,” rued St. Clare’s Junjie Hallare, as Ateneo hit five treys in that onslaught.
“Yun ang pumatay sa’min,” added one of the Saints’ leaders, who finished with 11 points, six rebounds, and two assists.
Aside from the huge meltdown, making the loss even tougher to fathom for St. Clare is that it had been their first loss in five games, sending them down to the third spot of the standings. But Hallare is still proud of the fight they put up.
“Ganun ang nangyari [na natalo kami] pero maganda naman naging laban namin. Pinahirapan namin sila. Hindi naman namin sila bibigyan ng laban na napakadali kaya pinahirapan din namin sila,” said the versatile wingman.
Moreover, Hallare is sure that the Saints will only learn from the loss.
“Yung mga naging problema namin, kailangan namin iimprove — marami kaming natutunan mula sa kanila,” continued Hallare, who also sees action for Imus in the National Basketball League.
“Kailangan namin magtrabaho pa.”
