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When Phoenix needed a hero in its late-game rally against GlobalPort, one unassuming veteran stepped up from seemingly out of nowhere.
Mark Borboran, has never been the guy to stand out in a PBA game, but on Wednesday he made sure his presence, though quiet, would ring out in the Fuel Masters’ 101-99 victory over the Batang Pier.
Phoenix’ play was to have Simon Enciso shoot the game-winning triple from the corner, but when the point guard missed, Borboran was there for the timely offensive board and the ensuing putback with 2.4 seconds left in the game.
“Yung tira ni Simon, ready lang ako to rebound at i-putback yung tira niya, ayun na convert ko naman (I was just ready to go for the rebound after Simon shot the ball, and fortunately I was able to make it),” said Borboran.
Phoenix was down 87-61 early in the fourth after Globalport forward Niño Canaleta made a triple but the Fuel Masters, after suffering back-to-back losses to TNT and Star by an average of 31.5 points, was determined not to suffer another humiliating setback.
The Fuel Masters rallied and went berserk with a 40-12 run that eventually sealed the game for them.
“Total team effort talaga yun, yung fourth quarter nag-stick lang talaga kami sa game plan tapos one stop at a time then inayos namin execution sa opensa (That fourth quarter was a total team effort, we stuck to our game plan which was to make one stop at a time, and we executed on offense),” said Borboran.
“Iyong character namin di na kami magpapatalo, hindi na kami magpapalamang ng ganun kalaki. Sinabi namin sa sarili namin na kaya naman namin manalo. (We now have this character that we won’t lose, we won’t allow ourselves to be down big. And we told ourselves that we can win this game).”