Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
A Ginebra fan watching inside Araneta Coliseum reveled as San Miguel’s Arwind Santos struggled to get his offensive game going in Game 2 of the semifinals.
He had several reasons to feel good about with Santos misfiring and the Gin Kings leading, 93-87, with exactly two minutes remaining.
But he found out the hard way not to mess with Santos especially when the game is far from over.
Santos first drilled a huge three with 1:53 remaining to cut the deficit down to three, 93-90, before burying the game-tying triple, 95-all, with 13.4 ticks left that forced overtime.
Adding insult to injury, Santos went on to give the fan a dose of his own medicine.
Santos 3! 13.4 left. 95-all. #PBA2018 pic.twitter.com/Lh8kzOeadx
— Randolph B. Leongson (@RLeongsonINQ) March 11, 2018
“Pinanganak akong mangaasar eh. Sa aming magkakapatid, di mo ako tatalunin sa pang-aasar,” he said as he taunted the fan repeatedly in the endgame. “Eh nung huli, naka-shoot ako. Parang ang sarap mang-asar at binalikan ko siya.”
(I was born a heckler. Between me and my siblings, you really can’t beat me when it comes to heckling. I made shots in the end and it felt so good to get back at him and piss him off.)
Santos got the last laugh as San Miguel stole Game 2 from Ginebra with a 104-102 win in overtime on Sunday.
He finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and two blocks to shake off his horrific performance in the first three quarters.
“Kapag ganoon yung nilalaro ko, kapag di ako masyadong nakakapag-contribute compared nung first game namin, nagfo-focus ako sa defense at sa ka sa assists. Kapag kailangan, hindi ko naman pipilitin,” he said. “God is good na yung mga crucial shots ko, isa yun sa nagbigay sa amin ng pag-asa. Tapos sa huli, na-follow up ni Marcio (Lassiter), kamay pa rin ng Diyos yon.”
(I wasn’t able to contribute compared to our first game so I focused on my defense and assists. I didn’t want to force my shots. But I hit crucial shots and that gave us hope and God is good. Marcio also had that followup and that too was still God giving us that blessing.)
.@TheSMBeermen’s @arwindsotnas talks about shaking off his early struggles to drill the overtime-forcing triple late in regulation. #PBA2018 pic.twitter.com/OizoBFBg4v
— Randolph B. Leongson (@RLeongsonINQ) March 11, 2018
The win put the Beermen up, 2-0, in the best-of-seven semifinals series, and for Santos, as tough as the game was, it just heightens up the players’ desire to keep winning.
“Nakaulit nga kami,” he said before channeling his inner poet which has become a norm for every time he talks to the media.
“Nakakuha na kami ng isang kaing. Sobrang nag-enjoy kami sa napitas namin na gusto lang namin na ariin yung puno next time. Pag naari na namin yung puno sa pangatlong panalo, bibilhin na namin yung lupa kung saan nakatanim yung puno na yon.”
(We were able to repeat. We enjoyed getting that win so much and we want to win again next game so that when we get our third win, we can now focus on winning the series.)
The Beermen go for a 3-0 lead on Tuesday at Mall of Asia Arena.