Maverick Ahanmisi isn’t pinning the blame on anyone but himself for the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters’ heartbreaking 113-114 loss to the GlobalPort Batang Pier on Tuesday night, in their 2018 Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinal bout.
Ahanmisi had chances to keep the Batang Pier at bay when they were retaliating from an eight-point deficit in the fourth, but he missed three straight free throws inside the final 39 seconds. He went 1-of-4 in his two visits.
And that left the door wide open for GlobalPort to come back. Jonathan Grey made a huge triple from the right corner to give the lead to the Batang Pier, and the latter made huge stops on the other end to complete the comeback.
“That’s definitely on me.
“I’m not taking away the fact that I missed crucial free throws, definitely something I gotta work on leading up to the next game. Like I said, it shouldn’t have even gotten up to that point,”said Ahanmisi, a third year-pro out of University of Minnesota.
“That game is on me, definitely, for missing the free throws. If I made those, it would have been over,” added Ahanmisi, who went 5-of-10 from the charity stripe and finished with 15 points and eight assists.
It was a crucial loss for the Elasto Painters, as it wasted their win-once incentive. Had they protected the 16-point lead they built in the third canto, Rain or Shine would’ve been heading straight into the semis.
So for Ahanmisi, he’s absolutely determined to redeem himself from this blunder. He has a chance on Thursday, as they aim to dodge the upset axe that the Batang Pier have been itching to wield.
“Definitely determined. I mean, nobody wants to miss free throws in a crucial moment, especially being the top seed,” the 26-year-old combo guard said.
“It’s do-or-die now.”
