When the National University Bulldogs suffered an opening day heartbreaker at the hands of Lenda Douanga, Shaun Ildefonso felt for his brother Dave.
Dave, a sophomore guard, tallied his career-high 29 points. But it went for naught as the Adamson Soaring Falcons took them down in overtime, 83-84.
“The night after the Adamson game, we couldn’t really sleep. Sabi namin sa sarili namin, I hope that never happens again,” admitted Shaun, who is a year older than Dave.
“Mas okay pa yung feeling ‘pag tambak, pero ganun.”
However, it was déjà vu for the Bulldogs. This time around, against the DLSU Green Archers, it was Shaun’s career-high that went to waste.
Behind Shaun, NU rallied from 14 points down to gain an 82-81 lead after his triple with 28.1 ticks left.
“For me, honestly, we lost first to third quarter. We couldn’t guard Justine Baltazar and parang yung reaction namin sa defense, sobrang bagal. Ganun talaga eh. Buti napakita namin yung maturity namin sa huli na we didn’t have last year,” shared Shaun, as last year’s Bulldogs only won four games.
“Last year ‘pag ganun, tuluy-tuloy na pababa eh.”
But a win simply would not drop for the Bulldogs, as Kurt Lojera knocked down a jumper on the other end for the go-ahead basket.
On offense, Ildefonso — who was shooting 4-of-8 from the deep — could not convert his ninth attempt, as La Salle copped the 83-82 win.
Heartbreak once again, as Shaun finished the game with his career-high 26 points.
“I think career-high ko na ‘to sa buong buhay ko eh.”
Still, Shaun is looking at the silver linings of their losses, saying they can build on this for their upcoming games.
“We still have twelve games left. No reason to give up now kasi I really believe we’re gonna make the Final Four. Malakas ang paniniwala ko dun na kahit dalawang talo na kami ngayon.”
