Wing man Ryan Arana came out of the dugout after a Rain or Shine game. He was in high spirits and later, he shook hands with the teammates he had been playing with for years.
Arana, who was averaging only 2.8 points a game in the elimination round, finally broke out and provided his team with quality production off the bench.
That team was San Miguel.
“Medyo weird talaga,” Arana shared afterwards as he faced the Elasto Painters, whom he played under for eight years. “Pero trabaho so kailangang gawin. Ngayon kung may konting sikuhan o pisikalan, normal naman siguro sa basketball yun. Murahin ako ni coach Yeng, okay lang, hinihintay ko nga eh,” he added in jest.
He scored eight points on 4-for-5 shooting and was a plus-7 in over 19 minutes of play, helping the Beermen score a 103-94 win to take a 3-2 semi-finals series lead.
Arana shared he was challenged by some of the team’s officials to show his game, and in a crucial affair, he repaid the trust with solid effort.
“Alam din naman nila yung the way I play. Yung bosses, sinabihan ako na ilabas yung laro ko dahil hindi naman yun ang laro ko. I am thankful na kahit yung previous games ko masama, binigyan nila ako ng chance makabawi,” he said.
“Matagal na akong naka-adjust sa system ni coach Leo. Siguro this game is a breakaway game for me. Matagal na nilang hinihintay na pumutok yung game namin (bench) so happy naman nakatulong sa team dahil kailangang kailangan namin yung panalo.”
The Beermen again flashed better support from its second stringers, with Arana, Gabby Espinas, and Chris Ross all scoring 9 points to backstop four starters in double-digits.
Arana hopes to do the same in the next games, knowing it will make the team tougher to beat and prepare them for bigger match-ups.
“Mas maganda para sa amin yun. Kasi naaawa na rin kami kay June Mar, lagi na lang si June Mar. Mas malaki chance namin manalo kung yung bench namin tumutulong sa scoring and hindi lang scoring, pati depensa. Magandang preparasyon na rin in case makapasok ng finals.”
