Veteran Mamaril bails out Globalport; ‘That’s what you dream of as a kid’
Coach Pido Jarencio and Billy Mamaril. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
When Globalport needed a hero, the Batang Pier it found one in veteran Billy Mamaril.
Globalport was on the brink of elimination, another quarterfinal exit, as the Batang Pier trailed Ginebra 72-74 with less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation.
But Mamaril was determined to bring the young team to the semifinals.
READ: GlobalPort advances to semis, ousts Ginebra
Sophomore guard Stanley Pringle drove down the lane, and with a slight screen, handed off the ball to Mamaril and the 35-year-old paid dividends by tying the game at 74-74.
“As a professional basketball player, there’s nowhere else you want to be in that situation, that’s what you dream of as a kid,” Mamaril said Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena. “That’s what you dream of as a kid—game on the line, do your fundamentals, keep it simple, make a basket, and make a stop.”
After Mamaril made his basket with 4.1 seconds remaining, his next job was to make a stop—and he did so blocking LA Tenorio’s potential game-winning triple to send the game to overtime.
READ: Ginebra has until 12nn Monday to file protest after loss to GlobalPort
Overtime came and the young duo of Terrence Romeo and Pringle did the closing duties, with some help from veteran Jay Washington, as Mamaril basked in the merriment of Globalport’s first semifinals trip.
“I’m happy for them, this is the first time they would go to the semis, and me as a veteran we have to guide them,” Mamaril said. “Terrence and Stanley, there’s no one like them that’s the main difference. Everyone else is just supporting them.”
Mamaril even did the honors of comparing the two youngsters to his former teammates, who have been the subject of Ginebra lore, Jayjay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa.
“They can be Fast and Furious 2.0.”
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