Poy Erram breathed a huge sigh of relief Sunday evening, as he finally earned his first win with the NLEX Road Warriors after three failed attempts at the expense of the promising Columbian Dyip in 2019 PBA Philippine Cup action.
“Actually, nung nakuha namin yung panalo, parang nakahinga talaga ako ng maluwag.
“Kasi syempre, yun nga, alam naman ng mga tao, alam niyo yung pressure na meron sa’kin kasi ang dami nilang binitawan eh,” he said.
“Tapos ngayon na naka-deliver ako ng panalo and then nag-best player pa ko so parang ang sarap sa pakiramdam na kahit papano,” added Erram, who finished with a game-high 23 points along with 10 rebounds, six assists, and five blocks.
Sunday’s win though wasn’t a walk in the park for NLEX. They managed to erect a 31-point lead late in the second frame, but the Dyip made a spirited run in the second half and eventually closed by five twice in the fourth quarter.
But then, Erram, along with fellow center Marion Magat and Philip Paniamogan, steadied the ship afterwards by making a 9-2 run en route to a 100-88 lead with 4:06 left to play, which was more than enough to ward off the opposition.
Erram tipped his hat to his fellow Road Warriors for the contributing nicely — four more players finished in twin digits.
“Maganda yung performance ng mga teammates ko so good thing na-convert namin sa panalo. Yun lang naman hinihintay namin eh, yung mga player na kailangan mag-contribute hindi lang isa, dalawa, kundi lahat kami para manalo.”
But as gratifying as the win is, Erram said that a lot of work still needs to be done — NLEX has just improved to 1-3.
“Pero yun nga, at the end of the day, it’s just one win,” said the Ateneo de Manila product, who’s currently averaging 17.75 points, 7.25 boards, and 3.75 blocks.
“Marami pang kailangan gawin, marami pang kailangan iimprove.”
