Dunks attempts vs Laminou, Onwubere not personal, says Akhuetie

Bright Akhuetie with a dunk attempt. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

The way Bright Akhuetie defied gravity with two ferocious dunk attempts against Emilio Aguinaldo College’s big men, there’s no denying the Perpetual Help center had very bad intentions.

And yet, he swore—–with a huge grin—–that it wasn’t something personal.

“I just wanted to go hard. I really wanted to go hard,” said Akhuetie, who nearly humiliated Hamadou Laminou and Sidney Onwubere in two separate tries on Tuesday.

It didn’t look like that was the case.

The first, on the shot-blocking Laminou, Akhuetie unexpectedly launched himself off from the left baseline while the second against Onwubere, who had been trying to get under his skin from the opening tip, was seen from a mile away with the runaway locomotive barreling through the middle of the lane.

“No, not at all,” he said when asked if he was trying to make a statement. “I’m just trying to bring myself back together but I think I slept throughout the game.”

Perhaps in the first three quarters, but not in the last frame where he unleashed 11 of his 13 points in the final five minutes to power the Altas to a 71-59 win, the team’s sixth in a row.

Akhuetie also ripped down 13 rebounds, but what got him beaming was what he wasn’t able to do.

“Zero turnovers. Just that,” he said after looking at the stat sheet.