When he asked to be waived by the Cebu Sharks, Eloy Poligrates vowed that he will make the most out of his stint with Marinerong Pilipino in the PBA D-League.
After all, the 27th overall pick in the 2013 PBA Draft sees this as his last shot at making it back to the pros.
“Last chance ko na ito eh,” the now-31 year old guard out of Cebu shared.
And on Monday afternoon, he made sure that everyone will remember him, writing his name in the history books of the developmental league by dropping a record 67 points.
According to him, he had an out-of-body experience during their game against the iWalk Chargers, which they won 141-97.
“Wala akong idea.
“Nakita ni coach na mainit ang tira ko. Ang sabi lang sa akin ni coach Yong (Garcia), score lang ako ng score,” recalled Poligrates, who buried 11 triples in the contest.
During the first quarter, Poligrates was already feeling it, scoring 15 points. After being “limited” to just seven points in the second term, he found his second wind in the third canto, dropping 20 points.
Then in the final frame, he went on to score 25 more points in an epic display of scoring.
“First time ko nakagawa ng ganito sa big league kaya pasalamat lang talaga ako kay coach Yong na nagtiwala siya sa akin,” expressed Poligrates.
With his high-scoring forays in the second league, Garcia believes that it’s only a matter of time before Poligrates returns to the big league.
“Kita ko talaga ngayon na ready siya para makabalik sa PBA. Dito naman sa Marinerong Pilipino, sinusuportahan namin siya,” Garcia opined.
“Tinatrabaho ni Eloy lahat ng development ng skills niya.”
Poligrates, though hoping and praying for a call-up, is solely focusing on lifting the Skippers to the Promised Land first.
“Wala pang tumatawag. Si Coach Yong muna ang iniintindi ko. Nagsabi ako sa kanya na tutulong ako sa kanya dito sa D-League. After noon, kung saan na pwede. Sana nga sa PBA na yun.”
