Mac Belo vs Terrence Romeo. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Mac Belo was a witness to Terrence Romeo and his relentless work ethic dating back to their college days at Far Eastern University.
Belo used to marvel at Romeo for his extra work during those days, and when the former teammates faced off for the first time, his admiration for the GlobalPort star remains.
“I’m still amazed with his talents. I’ve know him since we’ve been in FEU and now we’re here in the PBA, he still wows me,” said the Blackwater rookie in Filipino.
“I saw him work at FEU. He’s an inspiration to us, seeing how he does the extra work in practice.”
Belo said his matchup with Romeo was something he didn’t want to miss.
“I was excited to face off with him. We’re happy to have beaten him and his team. It was a challenge to be defended by him.”
Romeo wound up with 22 points in the 99-91 loss to Blackwater, but Belo still felt the Elite did a good job in containing the explosive guard.
“We had a good game plan against him. But even if our defense was aggressive, he was still able to score.”
Belo was one of the many defenders Blackwater threw at one of the toughest covers in the league.
Never shy to fire away, Romeo kept attacking and shooting but ended up missing 15 of his 21 attempts from the field. He did, however, collected eight rebounds and nine assists.
Belo topscored with 20 points to lead Blackwater’s impressive win. The Elite’s fourth victory is the franchise’s most in one conference since entering the league in 2014.
“We’re happy that we’re able to execute everything we practiced. We have a good system and we help each other out.”