University of the Philippines’ Paul Desiderio celebrates after hitting the game-winning 3-pointer to beat University of Santo Tomas. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
With the game on the line, Paul Desiderio wanted the ball in his hands and he delivered. on Sunday.
Desiderio was struggling all game long but with University of the Philippines trailing University of Santo Tomas, 73-71, with 1.1 seconds left, the veteran guard knew exactly how the game was going to end.
“This game is ours, I will make the shot,” he told his teammates in Filipino during the timeout with 5.3 ticks remaining.
True enough, Desiderio backed up his bold declaration as he knocked down the last-second 3-pointer.
“I’ve shot so many threes today and would I shy away from throwing the last one? No, I won’t. And coach Bo [Perasol] told us that if we’re open, we’ll shoot it so I shot it and it went in,” said Desiderio.
Desiderio was 1-of-10 from deep prior to his game-winner but his confidence did not falter.
Despite the bad shooting, Desiderio still finished with a team-high 17 points on 5-of-19 clip
“I always imagine myself hitting a game-winning three-point shot,” said Desiderio. “And I was confident I was going to make it because I’ve been practicing that shot constantly. And when Coach Bo called timeout I said in the huddle ‘when I’m open give it to me and I’ll make it.’”