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There’s just no quit on these Jawbreakers.
Down 16 in the third quarter, Zark’s Burger-Lyceum scratched and clawed their way back in the game and eventually pulled off the gutsy 90-87 overtime victory over Marinerong Pilipino to steal Game 1 of the 2018 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup on Tuesday.
“We were just thinking that we still had time. We can’t quit and we just kept on playing as long as there’s time on the clock,” said Jaycee Marcelino, who poured 20 points, three rebounds, and three steals in the win, in Filipino.
He, together with his twin brother Jayvee, alongside top guns CJ Perez and Mike Nzeusseu all conspired in making the belated run to get back in the game and almost steal the win right there if not for Perez’ muffed freebies at the end of regulation.
But as the game went to overtime, the Marcelinos took matters into their own hands, combining for five of the Jawbreakers’ nine in extra time, as well as making huge stops to stifle the Skippers.
Jayvee, though, said that Zark’s-Lyceum wouldn’t be as poise if not for its gaffes in its past games.
“We learned from our past games, especially in our games against CEU where the same thing happened that we just fought back. So with those in mind, we just helped each other out and never quit,” he said.
With Zark’s-Lyceum a win away from reaching the Finals, the Marcelino twins are hoping to get the job done come Thursday as the Jawbreakers expect another tough outing against Marinerong Pilipino.
“We’ll double our effort so that we’ll get the win. We can’t afford to lose because we know how good their veterans are,” said Jaycee.
“We’ll work harder so that we’ll get Game 2,” said Jayvee.