Evangelista keys Hotdogs’ big win

A few minutes before a crucial game against Shell, Purefoods forward Rey Evangelista didn’t have any idea that he was in for something big.

"Basta alam ko, kailangan kong tulungan ang team. Hindi ko naisip na gagawa ako pero alam kong kailangan kong mag-contribute, especially sa defense kasi malakas ang kalaban," said the 6-foot-2 defense specialist.

The moment his first shot plopped into the basket, though, everything about the former Santo Tomas standout proved big.

Evangelista played the fireman’s role in Purefoods’s 81-72 victory over Shell, in the process gaining for his team a twice-to-beat incentive in the Philippine Basketball Association All-Filipino Cup, which is now moving to the quarterfinal phase.

Small wonder that the Leyte native won the voting for Player of the Week, narrowly beating Alaska’s Ali Peek, who also came up with big numbers in a big game.

Evangelista had no special preparation outside of the ordinary before stepping into the game against an opponent he highly respects.

"Basta ang alam ko, talagang malakas ang Shell," he said.

What he had in his arsenal, however, was an inspiration.

"Malaki kasi yung motivation namin. Ever since, mahirap talagang pumasok sa semifinals pag wala kang twice-to-beat sa quarters. Kailangan mong talunin ng dalawang beses ang isang team," said Evangelista.

"Kaya yun pa lang, inspired na ako. Siyempre, gusto naming pumasok sa finals.Mahirap man ‘yon, mas madali kung twice-to-beat ka sa quarters," he added.

And with that, Evangelista went on to score 22 points against Shell, making nine out of 12 attempts from the field. He had 18 points in the first three periods, when the Hotdogs went on to a 64-42 lead entering the fourth.

"Nung pumasok yung mga unang tira ko, medyo naramdaman ko na umiinit na ako. Kaya medyo dumami yung attempts," he added with a sheepish smile.

He also had five rebounds and played defense against Shell’s main scorers.

Peek nearly edged Evangelista for the award as the 6-3 forward punched in huge numbers, scoring a career-high 34 points and grabbing 14 rebounds for the Aces.

"He played really well for us and I think he’s starting to be the most dominant player at the post right now," said Alaska coach Tim Cone.