By LUIS MIGUEL B. ARUCAN
THE FACULTY of Arts and Letters (AB) Men’s basketball team suffered their first loss in this year’s Thomasian Goodwill Games after trailing behind Senior High School (SHS) the entire game, 58-80.
SHS quickly racked up a lead in the first half by relying on safe two-point shots versus AB’s riskier and often unsuccessful three-point attempts. Paul Lopez’s three field goals behind the paint were not enough to carry AB, 26-32.
Jethro Escoto of SHS ran through AB in the third quarter, again with safe two-pointers, and pulled his team farther with an 11-2 run, 28-44.
The men in blue clearly lost spirit in the final quarter after sinking to a 20-point deficit, 53-73, while SHS showed superb presence of mind by constantly denying AB’s fast breaks and layups.
AB Team Captain Kenneth Bataclan said they will use their first loss as a learning experience in preparation for the next game.
“[G]agawin namin siyang motivation para manalo kami next game. Kasi nakita na namin ‘yung mga mali namin tapos alam na namin ‘yung mga kailangan na namin gawin sa next game,” Bataclan told the Flame.
He chalked up their loss to his team’s lack of focus before the game and said many of his teammates could not spare time to train in the past two weeks.
The game was held on Wednesday at the P. Noval Covered Court.
AB Men’s has already secured a spot in the quarterfinal round with three wins. Their loss seeded them to face the College of Commerce on Monday, April 1. F
