St. Benilde’s Yankie Haruna. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
It may have taken 18 games, but for St. Benilde, it was all worth the wait.
The Blazers finally scored a victory in NCAA Season 92, turning back Lyceum, 65-61 on Friday.
And one player who truly treasures the experience is Yankie Haruna, who tasted his first victory in the league.
READ: St. Benilde averts winless season, beats Lyceum in last game
“It feels amazing. It feels like winning a championship,” he said. “We all fought until the end. Luckily, we got the win.”
Haruna said the entire season had been an excruciating experience for the squad as the losses, all 17 of it, piled up.
“It was really tough. We went through a lot of stuff being a young team. For us, it was just the first year for us to get to know each other, so all we had to do was play through the system and as a team. We just battled everything out and try to get that win,” he said.
READ: Lack of maturity, consistency doom Blazers to worst start under Velasco
The 22-year-old wing, though, said that all the pains were erased when the Blazers heard that final buzzer and saw the score favoring them in the end.
“It felt good, but we had to make the stops and keep fighting it out until the end. I was emotional too and I teared up. We had to give everything out. We did not want to end the season winless. We just had to play until the end,” he said. “All those hardwork in practice, waking up in the morning is tough, but we got to do what we got to do and it all paid off.”
READ: EAC sends St. Benilde to record-worst 17 losses
With this lackluster season behind St. Benilde, Haruna is optimistic that the tough lessons the team had to endure this year will serve as painful reminders for the Blazers looking forward.
“We dedicate the win to each and everyone of us, including coach Gabby (Velasco). We had to exert a lot of effort individually and as a team,” he said.
“Hopefully, we just keep on grinding and continue to keep working hard. Hopefully, this is the beginning of us winning.”