Kib Montalbo will have a tough time sleeping for the next three days, that’s for sure
Besides losing to arch-rivals Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles Sunday night, what made the result worse was that the De La Salle University had one foot after the finish line at 74-75 with just nine seconds left in the ballgame, only for a faulty inbound play to allow Ateneo point guard Matt Nieto to seal the win from the charity line.
One of the suspects in that inbound play was veteran guard Kib Montalbo, who accidentally botched the setip and provided the Blue Eagles the platform they needed to seize the game.
“We’re gonna bounce back. I felt that we could have won that game and we’ll bounce back,” commented La Salle’s team captain.
The Bacolod native refused to explain what happened in the incident but admitted that the Green Archers could have done much more to prevent the loss.
“We made a lot of mistakes. We missed free throws crucially. Probably lacking din yung defense since pasok lahat ng three points nila nung first quarter,” shared Montalbo, who is averaging just 6.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists this season.
“We were hyped up but they just shot the lights out.”
Losses like these only fuel Montalbo’s desire to launch a comeback in order to set things right. For La Salle, it comes in just three days as the Green Archers take on the FEU Tamaraws at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
For Montalbo, it’s all about retribution.
“Thank you Lord nga na Wednesday kaagad yung game.
“At least hindi lalala yung sakit. Babawi talaga kami. We’ll get that victory,” he expressed.
Montalbo and the rest of the Green Archers may be down, but it’s up to them to prove that they are not out.