Ato Barba kept his potential farewell game from being his last.
The graduating forward gave it all in Lyceum of the Philippines University’s hard-fought 70-63 win over San Sebastian College-Recoletos in the play-in round of NCAA Season 101 on Tuesday.
Barba fired three three-pointers to finish with 22 points on an efficient 6-of-10 shooting clip, while also grabbing three rebounds and three assists to carry the Pirates to the quarterfinals.
"Ayun nga, kagabi ko pa iniisip na ngayon laro, ‘pag natalo kami ‘yun na ‘yon. Gusto kong maging memorable ‘yung season para sa mga graduating teammates. Binigay ko lang ‘yung best ko kasi sabi nga namin sa dugout kanina, ayaw pa namin umuwi e," Barba said.
"Binigay ko lang ‘yung best ko kasi isang talo na lang, wala na. Tapos na ako sa NCAA. Tapos na ‘yung eight years na paglalaro ko dito."
(I was thinking since last night, if we lose this game, that's it. I want this season to be memorable for my graduating teammates. I just gave my best and as we said in the dugout, we don't want to go home yet. I just gave my best because one loss and it's over. I'm done in the NCAA. My eight years of playing here will be over.)
The Pirates’ journey gets even tougher as Barba leads them into the quarterfinals against Group B top seed and twice-to-beat San Beda University, rekindling memories of their Season 99 showdown.
Make no mistake, that memory isn’t exactly a happy one for LPU. The Pirates failed to capitalize on their twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four, allowing San Beda to advance to the finals and eventually win the championship.
This time, however, LPU is determined to turn the tables against the Red Lions.
"Bumalik nga sa akin 'yun, kami 'yung twice-to-beat and tinalo kami ng Beda. Again, wala naman na akong gaganti pa or something, basta we're gonna play our game," LPU head coach Gilbert Malabanan said.
"San Beda is one of the contenders. We're gonna give our best in that game."
(It came back to me, we had the twice-to-beat and we were beaten by Beda. Again, it's not that we are looking for revenge, we're just gonna play our game... San Beda is one of the contenders. We're gonna give our best in that game.)
The Pirates enter the matchup buoyed by their play-in victory over the Stags and fueled by the belief that they can overcome top-seeded San Beda, even as underdogs, following their lone elimination round win earlier this month.
In that game, Joshua Moralejo went ballistic late in the fourth period by dropping four clutch three-pointers to let LPU take a convincing 78-66 victory.
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—JMB, GMA Integrated News
