Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
All is fair in love and war.
After San Beda’s 76-71 win over San Sebastian in their stepladder semifinals clash on Tuesday, Red Lions coach Boyet Fernandez took the time to hug Golden Stags mentor Egay Macaraya and call it a truce.
“It’s really a hard fought game today, and as I’ve always said, it’s only one team who will prevail, and we’re happy we won it. But I will not take away anything from San Sebastian,” he said.
Fernandez accused Calisaan of being a “dirty player” after their second round clash, which led to Macaraya coming to the defense of his senior forward.
That triggered an uneasy feeling between the two squads going into the much anticipated duel on Tuesday.
But after 40 minutes of hard fought basketball, Fernandez stands by his actions as he believes that the criticisms he hurled towards San Sebastian made both sides better.
“I said what I’ve said before, and if San Sebastian was hurt with that, I think if you look at the end result of that, if you look at Calisaan, he played as a normal player after that and he’s been playing well,” he said. “I just say what I have to say because I also have to protect my players. But my players know. They saw the tapes, everything, they saw it, because as you all know, we always scout, and we got it. We just want to protect players, we don’t want to destroy them.”
Fernandez also would like to think that it helped Calisaan be a better player, as evidenced by his performance in the homestretch to lead the Golden Stags to where they got in NCAA Season 93.
“I do respect what they’re saying, and if that’s the way they appreciate what Calisaan is doing, then that’s their system, that’s their program, and I do respect that,” he said.
“I really admire Calisaan and the way he’s playing. I even hugged Coach Egay today and told him you did a good job with San Sebastian.”