Coach Alex Compton of Alaska. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–Thousands of fans were screaming, 10 players were scrambling for the ball, and then the shot clock winded down.
Their 24-second shot clock seemed like an eternity, and with just a few ticks away, a lanky forward shot it up from the wing. It was a high looper, as high as the ceiling of the historic Araneta Dome. Then it came back down, a second expired, swoosh.
Arwind Santos, one of the driving forces of the San Miguel Beermen, punched a three-pointer with 43.7 seconds remaining to give his team a 79-78 lead.
A pandemonium ensued among the fans. The PBA Philippine Cup trophy would go to San Miguel.
Santos just gave his team a 1-point bubble after trailing by six in the final minutes of the fourth.
A composed Alaska head coach Alex Compton had timeouts to burn and he believed they could win.
It was not the case.
Alaska big boss Sonny Thoss muscled his way in, went for a layup. Compton believed they could pull it off.
Thoss’ shot bounced off the rim, and one man was there to grab the miss.
It was Santos.
“I was always a believer; in my mind, I know we could win,” Compton said, disappointed.
His team lost, 80-78, to the Beermen.
“We had timeouts to use, we could advance the ball, go for a good shot,” he said.
Santos played for 47 minutes, tired, but no force on this earth could take away his glorious shot.
That’s a huge shot, he played 47 minutes, that’s guts.
Compton, whose team got branded as the new bearer of the “Never Say Die” motto, could not find the words to describe his emotion.
What he muttered was somewhat a Jabberwocky of thoughts and feelings.
It was like a weird mixture of pride and disappointment over the score.
For Santos, he was the winner, a Philippine Cup champion and a Philippine Cup Finals MVP.