Abueva energy sparks Gilas comeback vs Saints

MANILA, Philippines -- After playing lethargically during the first three quarters, Calvin Abueva took it upon himself to rouse Gilas Pilipinas with his energy and hustle on the floor.

The 6-foot-1 Abueva, who easily gave up six inches in height against taller defenders, played his customary all-heart approach to the game, diving for loose balls, grabbing rebounds and scoring on putbacks.

His all-out effort complemented teammate Terrence Romeo’s hot-shooting in the last quarter, which enabled Gilas Pilipinas to pull off an 84-81 come-from-behind win over the Wellington Saints Saturday night in the Master Game Face-MVP Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“Sa akin, ginawa ko lang yung trabaho ko, yung parang nakakuha ako ng konting energy and napasabay ko lang yung team,” Abueva said, who finished the game with 10 points, six rebounds and two assists.

The ‘Beast’ felt the national side were not aggressive enough during the first three quarters, which allowed the Saints to erect several 13-point spreads during the third canto.

“Yung start namin malamya yung ikot, walang energy kaya nung fourth quarter, binuhos na namin lahat till sa end of the game,” he added.

With Abueva doing what he can by providing the intangibles, Romeo supplied the scoring ammunition after finishing with 18 points, including 14 in the critical fourth period to complete Gilas’ fightback.

Meantime, Gilas coach Tab Baldwin said he actually challenged the Gilas players to make the extra effort to go for loose balls, stressing that the visiting Saints were beating them on the hustle department.

“We got on them (Gilas players) during halftime for the fact that there were loose balls on the floor, and yet, a makeup team were diving for loose balls and we weren’t. That was inexcusable,” Baldwin said.

“I said to the guys, at least 98 million Filipinos would dive for loose balls, so why can’t the 10 of you or 12 of you do that?”

Gilas will try to close out the tournament with another victory when it faces Chinese-Taipei in the main game on Sunday at 5 p.m.