Even with crown within reach, Phoenix treats game 2 as do-or-die

Mac Belo for Phoenix. PBA IMAGES

Mac Belo showed once again he is one of the best amateurs today with a phenomenal performance lifting Phoenix when he was needed the most on Thursday.

Pitted against a dangerous Tanduay squad, the Midsayap, North Cotabato native took matters into his own hands and lifted the Accelerators to an 84-76 victory to give his side a 1-0 lead in the 2016 PBA D-League Foundation Cup Finals.

He did it all for Phoenix, exploding for 27 of his 30 points in the second half as well as hauling down 14 rebounds and dishing three assists in the win.

“Siyempre yung goal namin ay makarating sa Finals. Nandito na kami, so kailangan namin i-double yung effort namin,” he said.

Unassuming as he may be, make no mistake Belo is focused on getting the championship. And he’s thankful that the rest of the team shares the same mentality.

“Kinailangan namin yung never give up mentality namin. Buti nakapag-deliver kami kanina at talagang nag-contribute ang lahat,” he said.

The 2016 Aspirants’ Cup Most Valuable Player, though, praised the Rhum Masters’ tough stand in Game 1 with Tanduay’s big men like Jaymo Eguilos and Jovet Mendoza giving Phoenix all it could handle.

“Grabe yung depensa nila. Sobrang aggressive din sila lalo nung nag-zone defense sila. Medyo nahirapan kami,” he said.

But Belo and his crew soon found a remedy, hounding the paint en route to a 54-41 discrepancy in rebounding. “Nagawan din naman namin ng paraan nung second half yung depensa nila, especially nung fourth quarter. Buti rin na-execute namin yung mga plays namin,” he said.

One step away from completing the season sweep, Phoenix is gunning to seal the deal on Tuesday. And Belo hopes that there won’t be any let ups for the Accelerators come Game 2.

“Kailangan naming ituring na do-or-die game ito. Yung energy namin ngayon, sana malampasan na namin going to the next game. Hopefully, makuha na namin yung championship,” he said.