A dejected San Beda side after losing to San Sebastian. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
As Robert Bolick inadvertently dribbled the ball off his foot and the final buzzer sounded, the San Beda guard knew it’s going to be one of those nights.
“I know that I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight,” said Bolick after the Red Lions’ stunning 72-71 loss to the San Sebastian Stags Tuesday.
“I hate losing, I never want to lose. It was hard to accept even our loss to JRU,” he said, recalling San Beda’s 79-73 defeat to Jose Rizal University exactly two weeks ago.
READ: NCAA: Resurgent Stags take down Red Lions
The loss to the Heavy Bombers was unexpected considering the Lions were 8-0 at that time and this latest setback at the hands of a team sitting at the bottom half of the standings was tougher, notwithstanding the absence of their star center Donald Tankoua, given that the Red Lions even took a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter.
And that’s what makes it a bitter pill to swallow for Bolick.
“I don’t know what to say. I thought the game was over the moment I stole the ball. We missed free throws, we didn’t defend well and that’s when we miss Donald but we really can’t do anything about it,” said Bolick after a long pause.
Bolick could’ve been one of his team’s heroes after making crucial steal. But the game took a turn for the worse for San Beda after Dan Sara missed two free throws that led to Allyn Bulanadi’s game-winning jumper with 3.8 seconds left and Bolick’s unforced miscue.
“We relaxed. I don’t blame our coaches, we blame ourselves because we’re the ones who are playing. We had the game plan ready, but we didn’t execute. We didn’t defend well so the blame is on us, especially on me,” he said.
Bolick vows San Beda will bounce back in one of the team’s biggest games this season when it takes on longtime rival Letran on Friday.
But the hard work starts right away in practice and the way Bolick wants it, training is going to be like hell.
“I’m pretty sure I’ll be ready for tomorrow’s practice. I’ll be yelling my teammates out because we’ve been relaxing too much. Even on my part. Maybe, it’s really a wake up call and tomorrow it’s going to be a really competitive practice. I’m gonna hit them, I’m gonna scold them, I’m gonna do everything to try and wake them up. We have no import, but we still can win.”