Rod Ebondo. PBA IMAGES
Seeing his herculean effort go down the drain, Rod Ebondo opted to move on rather than dwell on Centro Escolar University’s sorry 65-61 Game 1 loss to Flying V in the 2017 PBA D-League Foundation Cup semifinals on Thursday.
“This is basketball. We can’t say anything about it. It just happened,” he said.
The Congolese big man did all he could, firing 20 points and 27 rebounds in the defeat. Unfortunately, he had the ignominy of being the one to commit the charging foul on Gab Banal in the waning seconds that took the fight out of the Scorpions.
Still, Ebondo lauded CEU’s efforts after they came just within breaks away from dealing Flying V its first loss of the conference.
“We just wanted to give them their first loss. We really played hard, but we just have to move on and adjust next game. We want to be more mature, especially in the end game,” he said.
Ebondo also seeks to be more of a veteran as he wants to calm his fellow teammates in the clutch.
“Our team has many young players and sometimes, they panic in the crucial moments of the game. But next game, we will just try to be more confident so maybe we can force a Game 3 and go to the Finals.”
The Scorpions now that if they want to extend their stint in the Foundation Cup, they have no choice but to fight harder in game 2 on Tuesday.
“In basketball, nothing is impossible. We just have to deal with it and focus on the next game. This is a do-or-die for us,” he said. “We just have to come back stronger. We hope that we give our best and play hard to force a Game 3.”