The Kettle Corn-UST Tigers might have bid goodbye to their PBL campaign prematurely, but they showed their opponents that they were no pushovers. In a showcase of bravery and the Tigers’ proverbial “never say die” attitude, they carved a gallant 128-133 triple-overtime loss to the Magnolia Spinners in the knockout phase of the PBL Silver Cup last Jan. 20 at the Emilio Aguinaldo College Gym in Manila.
Kettle Corn Poppers, who failed to notch a win in its entire PBL campaign, almost had their long-awaited triumph with Allan Evangelista’s split charities in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter, 109-106. Magnolia rookie sensation Pong Escobal, however, spoiled the possibility as he drilled a desperation three-pointer to push the game to overtime.
On the distaff side, Japs Cuan also connected a game-tying triple of his own near center court that knotted the contest at 122 apiece for second overtime.
In the third overtime, only five of Kettle-Corn players were left to play as big men Chester Taylor, Dylan Ababou, and June Dizon fouled out one after the other, while Evangelista was sidelined due to cramps. The situation enabled Spinners Bonbon Custodio, Ogie Menor, and Sam Ekwe to score undergoal stabs that finally turned back the hard-fighting Corn Poppers.
It was a grueling but classic three-hour basketball showdown. Evangelista led Kettle Corn with 26 big points, while 2006 Finals MVP Jojo Duncil and Anthony Espiritu added 22 and 20 points, respectively. Josh Urbiztonodo, Taylor, and Dizon also scored double figures for the Corn Poppers, who only fielded 10 players because of five players in sickbay.
“Our loss could have happened for a purpose,” Mark Canlas, who is likely to take Evangelista’s forward position next season, told the Varsitarian. “It was still good riddance because we were able to realize our full potential.”
Getting physical
The Kettle Corn Poppers had been searching the winning formula all season long as they suffered blowout setbacks against league leaders Harbour Centre (77-103), Hapee-PCU (73-88), and Mail and More Comets (63-84) and the Jerry Codiñera-mentored Teletech Titans (52-74).
Lack of height and experience took its toll on the Pop Kings, who averaged lowly numbers in rebounds per game (44.5) and field goal percentage (32.9). Battling against the league’s big men and veteran wily guards was difficult for the Kettle Corn Poppers, who posted a 20-point losing margin in four setbacks.
“We had a hard time setting up our defense in the PBL because it is tough playing against more experienced players,” Canlas said. “The UAAP plays a sensitive type of game because hand-check fouls always get the whistle, while the PBL is highly physical that at times a foul is hard to distinguish.”
A win would have disregarded all of the Corn Poppers’ 10 prior losses and could have earned them the right to battle fifth-seeded Henkel Sista in the wildcard phase format in which the winner of the match between the last two teams in the standings gets to advance to another do-or-die game against a higher-seeded team for a quarter finals’ berth.
