Trailing by four at halftime, Jose Rizal University found the fire they needed right in their own dugout at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.
Heavy Bombers deputy Juan Miguel Martin recalled how head coach Nani Epondulan turned extra emotional during the halftime break, which he said was unusual for the rookie tactician.
And that helped spark JRU as the young crew of Epondulan was eventually able to pull off an 80-76 win against Emilio Aguinaldo College in their do-or-die play-in match on Tuesday.
With the win, JRU continues its journey and will now head to the quarterfinals against Group A top seed Perpetual with the latter enjoying a twice-to-beat bonus.
"First time kong makita si Coach Nani na gano’n e. ‘Yun ‘yung first time na nakita ko, parang nakita ko si Incredible Hulk," Martin shared.
"Nag-respond naman ‘yung mga bata kasi sabi ko nga, tatay nila ‘yan e. Paglabas namin [ng dugout] iba na ‘yung itsura ng mga bata. Nawala na ‘yung tightness nila sa game. Nagalit e."
(It was the first time for me to see Coach Nani like that. It was like seeing the Incredible Hulk... The players responded because like I said, that's their father. When we came out of the dugout, the players looked different. The tightness in their game was gone. He got angry.)
But Martin also credited the hustle and effort displayed by the players in the endgame.
In one sequence in that frame, JRU hauled four offensive rebounds that eventually led to a Shawn Argente triple that gave the Heavy Bombers a 71-70 lead with 2:56 to go.
Stephen Garupil hit a triple of his own before Justin Lozano completed a three-point play that saw JRU seizing a 78-73 cushion with 42.7 ticks to go.
The Generals pulled to within two, but JRU held on to rack up the victory as another rookie Harry Herrera sealed it with a pair of free throws.
For Martin, the win was a product of the extra work the Heavy Bombers have been putting in away from the spotlight.
"‘Di talaga namin matawaran ‘yung effort ng mga bata to be honest kasi ayaw na namin pagensayuhin, nageensayo pa ‘yung mga ‘yan late night," Martin added.
"Minsan may makikita kami sa gym 10:00 kaya siguro deserve naman nila ‘yan. Deserve nila kung ano ‘yung nangyari ngayon."
(We can't bargain with the players' effort. To be honest, we didn't want them to practice anymore but they are still there practicing late night... We will see some of them at the gym 10:00 so I suppose they deserve this. They deserve what they're getting now.)
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—JMB, GMA Integrated News
