Mark Barroca. NUKI SABIO/PBA
MANILA, Philippines—Purefoods guard Mark Barroca missed four out of his six attempts from the field on Wednesday night but one of his two made baskets in Game 1 was definitely way harder to make than those he had missed.
In what could go down as the shot of the season, Barroca caught teammate Denzel Bowles’ air ball on the left side of the basket in midair before wisely flipping it up and in with his back to the basket and Talk ‘N Text’s Jayson Castro on him before the shot clock ran out.
Barroca said he just had the presence of mind to throw the ball towards the ring and just hope it grazes the ring without any intentions of making such an improbable shot.
“Ako nga nagulat. Ang iniisip ko na lang kasi three seconds na lang before itira ni Denzel. Sa akin lang naman bato ko na lang at tamaan ko lang yung ring tapos bahala na. Nagulat ako na sigawan pa yung mga tao at tumama pa sa ring,” Barroca recalled.
“Hindi ko nga nakita kasi pagbato ko tumakbo na ako agad para dumepensa kasi inaatake nila lagi kami,” Barroca added. “Sigawan nga sila sa bench. Ako nga mismo nagulat.”
Barroca’s impossible shot also came at a crucial time with Purefoods still clinging on to a six-point lead with still close to a minute left.
“Crazy,” Bowles, who himself had a crazy night with a career-high 49 points, said of Barroca’s play. “Somebody post it to ESPN SportsCenter. That helped us out because they were coming back and that broke their back.”
“So far yung tira na yon ang pinaka-highlight sa career ko,” Barroca said with a laugh. “Nakatalikod ako, hindi ko nga alam kung may ring sa likod ko tapos tinapon ko na lang.”