Frustrations boil over after Altas’ sorry loss to Knights

Perpetual coach Nosa Omorogbe smashed the door to the Altas’ locker room out of frustration, taking it off of its hinges. Photo by Randolph B. Leongson/ INQUIRER.net

So frustrating was Perpetual’s 63-61 defeat to Letran on Friday that coach Nosa Omorogbe couldn’t help but punch the door of the team’s dugout off of its hinges to express his anger.

And he has every reason to feel frustrated as the game was the Altas’ to lose when they made a huge push in the fourth quarter.

After battling in a low-scoring affair early on, Perpetual suddenly found its mark managed to get the lead, which stretched to 57-52 with 4:27 to play, but stumbled in the clutch.

After Bong Quinto drained the go-ahead layup with 12.6 seconds left, the Altas couldn’t cash in on their chances down the wire.

Prince Eze muffed his hook shot before a wild scramble ensued between Gab Dagangon and King Caralipio with 3.5 seconds left, but the officials ruled it as a jumpball in favor of the Knights thanks to the possession arrow rule.

“The referees called a foul,” argued Dagangon in Filipino, as the officials overturned the initial call. “I don’t know why they reversed it. When they called a foul, I had the ball and there wasn’t any scramble.”

Though Perpetual got another chance to tie or win the game because of a miscue from Quinto, who passed the ball to Rey Nambatac in the backcourt with 2.6 remaining, the Altas couldn’t cash in as Dagangon bobbled the ball on the inbounds play and failed to make a shot.

The senior forward didn’t shy away from taking responsibility for the botched play. “We followed the play but it wasn’t to be. I can blame myself because I wasn’t able to catch the ball. It was crucial and in those parts, it was really difficult to catch it.”

Dagangon rued the missed chance for the Altas to rise up in the standings as they instead fell down to a 2-4 card midway through the first round.

“It was a must win for us if we wanted to make it to the Final Four. We really wanted to win, but we fell short in the end,” he said.

Perpetual will now take its ball and go home before welcoming San Beda in its Las Piñas campus on Thursday.

As for the broken door, Perpetual athletic director Sammy Acaylar begged for understanding for the untoward incident and vowed that the school will take care of any costs spent for the repairs.

“It’s just emotions from the game. Perpetual will shoulder all the cost,” he quipped.