ANTIPOLO – Game 3 of the NCAA 98 Men’s Basketball finals didn’t go Will Gozum’s way.
From the get-go.
Took down and kept down by foul trouble – two in the first frame, another in the second quarter, and a fourth in the third period – he was then forced back into the locker room as the sands of the hourglass emptied on College of St. Benilde’s comeback attempt, Sunday at Ynares Center here.
“‘Di ako makabwelo buong laro. Siguro, pumasok siya sa isip ko kaya yung aggressiveness ko, hindi ko napagpatuloy,” he said, his voice softer than usual, his words more measured than confident.
“Pero yung na-gain kong experience, sobrang laki. Wala akong masabi sa Letran. Sobrang galing nila. For me, sobrang deserving sila mag-champion. Thankful ako sa kanila dahil sa experience na ‘to.”
After the Season MVP’s head made contact with Pao Javillonar’s mouth and he was assessed a disqualifying foul, he was all alone inside the dugout. There were no reddening eyes. There were no tears. What was left was what could’ve been, what should’ve been.
With Gozum far and away from the floor, and with forty ticks to go on the clock, Colegio de San Juan de Letran was already handing out their championship shirts.
Three-peat, complete.
“Emotional. Nag-sorry ako agad kina coach after it happened, tapos naging emotional na lang ako sa loob,” he answered when asked what was going through his mind at that moment when their title hopes were getting snuffed out.
How close the Blazers came: clinching the top seed, kicking out San Beda University, and claiming all the momentum following a big-time Game 2 win. How close the 24-year-old came to what mattered most to him.
At game’s end and the Taft-based team was called back to center court to receive their runner-up trophy, Gozum was finally let out of the locker room. Red eyes came. Tears came. He and Benilde will have to wait one more year for one more shot at their first championship since 2002.
“Pagbalik ko ng court, dun ko na na-realize na wala na talaga. Nung una, inside the locker room, mas galit lang (nararamdaman ko),” he shared.
“Wala na akong masabi kundi learning experience ‘to for me.”
Already armed with this hard-learned lesson, the 6-foot-5 forward vowed that the Blazers will use this sorry loss in the championship round as a springboard to greater heights. He himself vowed to be better after this.
In particular, Gozum now knows that opponents will do anything and everything to get under skin – from Javillonar’s so-called “mind games” to Louie Sangalang, Kevin Santos, and Kobe Monje’s physicality.
“Yung physicality, masasanay rin ako sa ganun. Thankful ako sa ganun,” he remarked. “Sobrang nadala ako sa emotions ko kaya talagang experience sa akin ‘to.
“For sure, mabibitbit ko ‘to sa career ko.”
He now knows he can’t let them.
He now knows he can’t come up with just 10 points, two rebounds, a steal, and a block in just almost-20 minutes in a supposedly championship-clinching game.
Come next season, though, the one-time Jrs. and one-time Srs. MVP will have to serve a one-game suspension no thanks to his disqualifying foul. And so, whenever the Blazers raise the curtain on a new tournament, and whoever they face off against, they will be without their man in the middle.
Just like Game 3 when Benilde needed him the most. And he was taken out of his game by his opponents. He let his opponents dictate the game.
“Masakit ‘to, pero masaya rin. Both (ang nararamdaman ko) e,” he remarked. “Siyempre, after 20 years, nakabalik kami sa Final Four. Yung ibang teams, parang gusto na rin kaming i-beat.
“Siyempre, nandun pa rin yung Letran kasi three-peat sila, pero at least, nandito na yung winning culture namin.”
Not again. Never again. Gozum will do all in his power to make sure of that.
“Next year, mas gusto naming bumawi. Itong learning experience na ‘to sa amin, mas madadala namin and mas hahabulin na kami next season.”
