A thumb injury won’t keep De La Salle captain Kib Montalbo from playing against archrival Ateneo in their first meeting in the UAAP Season 81 men’s basketball tournament.
Montalbo injured his right thumb in late September and was advised to sit games out for at least four weeks, but it took only a couple before the Green Archer was up and running.
“I just really want to play for La Salle because this is my last year,” said Montalbo after their 71-55 loss to the Blue Eagles Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.
“I don’t want a thumb injury to determine my season and I told coach [Louie Gonzalez] and my parents that I will play,” added Montalbo whose team dropped to a 3-3 record but stayed at the third seed of the ladder.
Montalbo’s return to the court may have been a defiance of the doctor’s orders but Gonzalez said his captain healed quicker than expected and was already in the green even before their game against the Blue Eagles.
“He’s ready to play in our last game [on Wednesday] we just waited for his thumb to recover but he’s ready to play,” said Gonzalez.
Montalbo acknowledged that playing against the Blue Eagles, who hold a 5-1 record, was difficult especially for a team that has eight players that have yet to reach their third playing year.
“I’m going to take that risk especially having a young team and anyone will have difficulty but we’ll just strive to get those improvements,” said the fifth-year Montalbo who finished with four points and three rebounds.
“I just wanted to play and that’s the bottomline.”