Issues regarding his leaving the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights may have surrounded Bong Quinto before the season started, but he reinforced his loyalty to the Blue and Red after his all-heart performance against arch-rivals San Beda Red Lions, Tuesday night.
“Manalo kami as a Letranite, matalo kami as a Letranite din. Kumbaga, sama sama kami,” said Quinto after Letran absorbed a 74-81 loss, their third in four games.
Despite tallying 19 points, 15 rebounds and two assists, Quinto and the Knights bowed to the depth of the Red Lions.
Quinto was the reason why Letran closed the first half with a seven-point cushion, 34-27. However, Letran’s subs failed to contribute, having only four players with made field goals.
“Di naman sa wala kaming tiwala sa teammates, sobrang laki ng tiwala namin sa kanila.
“Pero kasi pag ganitong dikdikan ang laban, mas gugustuhin na namin ni Rey [Nambatac] na maiwan kami sa court kasi kahit sino sa aming dalawa ang lalabas, ang hirap kasi pagbalik namin, kakayod nanaman kami,” lamented Quinto, who logged in 37 minutes in the contest. “Gugustuhin na naming mag stay sa loob kaysa mababa yung lamang. Di ko na iniisip yung pagod. Yung pagod pwede namang ipahinga yan.”
Simply losing to any team is already painful, but losing to your arch-rival rendered added pain to the squad from Intramuros.
“Ngayon, ang daming crowd, nakakahiya sa mga tao na natalo kami.
“Sobrang sakit, iba talaga pag San Beda kalaban,” the Letran lifer admitted, as the Knights look to bounce back against the JRU Heavy Bombers on Friday.
– BY: Danine Cruz
