Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
Many labeled Blackwater’s tussle against Magnolia on Friday as a revenge game for Elite swingman Allein Maliksi, who faced his former team for the first time.
But it was the least of Maliksi’s concerns with his focus giving his coach Leo Isaac a win a victory on his birthday which the he and the rest of the Elite failed to do.
“It was supposed to be our birthday gift to coach Leo. It’s unfortunate because we were there and faltered in the end,” he said after Blackwater lost to Magnolia, 78-72.
Blackwater had a chance to steal the game, tying the game at 72 with 1:07 left after trailing by as much as 18.
The Elite, however, didn’t have enough gas left in their tank in the endgame to fall to their fourth consecutive defeat.
“It’s unfortunate because we were there in the game. But we shouldn’t have allowed ourselves to be down that big. We need to help each other and give a collective effort so that we can beat an elite team,” said Maliksi, who finished with 17 points on 7-of-20 shooting from the field, to go along with four rebounds.
Just like last time, Maliksi hopes that Blackwater learned its lesson following another tight loss as it seeks to finally end its misery against San Miguel next Friday.
“We need to improve as teammates and as a team for our next game,” he said.