Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Paul Desiderio once declared “atin ‘to papasok ‘to (this game is ours, this shot will go in)!” before he drilled a crushing triple that knocked down University of Santo Tomas, 74-73, in University of the Philippines’ season opener.
Isaac Go took a page from Desiderio’s playbook when he unleashed his clutch gene in Ateneo’s 88-84 Final Four victory over Far Eastern University.
The gentle center of Ateneo knocked down a three-pointer with 8.5 seconds remaining that tied the game in regulation 75-75 followed by shy smile as a celebration.
READ: Desiderio walks the talk in UP’s last-second win over UST
During that moment, he was thinking about Desiderio’s heroism.
“I wanted to do what Paul did when he shouted ‘atin ‘to papasok ‘to! (this game is ours, this shot will go in!)’,” said Go Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Go, however, couldn’t replicate Desiderio’s braggadocio as the Nieto twins, Matt and Mike, immediately shut him down. “Corny,” chorused the brothers.
READ: Go moves on from costly miss in Ateneo loss to La Salle
Ateneo’s jovial big man connected with Matt on a hand-off after the latter drew the double team that allowed Go to get an open look at the top of the key.
“I think I just got a good shot fake and Richard [Escoto] jumped but I still got a clear shot,” said Go who finished with 13 points, nine from downtown, and nine boards. “I got a really good sight of the basket so I took it.”
Go added his clutch triple wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing as it was the product of head coach Tab Baldwin’s trust in them.
READ: Ateneo escapes FEU in OT, faces La Salle in UAAP Finals rematch
“This just shows that coach Tab trusts us and how much he trusts the work we put in,” said Go. “We’ve been playing since January. We put in hours after hours of work for that one moment. We have to dig deep from all those months of preparation for that one moment.”