BY Andrei Barrantes
For the third consecutive year, the formerly dominant NU-Nazareth School ended up disappointed following the conclusion of the UAAP boys’ basketball championship.
During Game 3 of the Season 87 championship series, the Bullpups lost in overtime to the University of Santo Tomas—a setback following their bronze medal win in Season 85 and their second-place finish in Season 86.
READ:
Tiger Cubs clinch basketball championship for Espana
Certainly, the team in blue and gold continued to make the match competitive despite falling behind by as many as 17 points and facing significant difficulties shooting from beyond the arc. They subsequently launched an intense comeback effort in the second half but still found themselves down by two at 72-74 with just 5.8 seconds remaining in the game.
Following a timeout, Mac Alfanta’s attempt fell short, but luckily for NUNS, Migs Palanca was in the perfect position for the follow-up shot that equalized the score and sent the game into overtime.
PHOTO: UAAP Media Bureau
Although they eventually exhausted their energy in overtime, the Bullpups found encouragement in Palanca’s performance, scoring 21 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and blocking three shots across 28 minutes of play.
“Even though my personal output might be good, if the end result is not winning, what I did will be overshadowed because they’ll say it was insufficient,” he explained.
Once again we fell short, but it wasn’t our loss though — it’s either we win or we learn from it.
Moving on to the next one for Migs
With the 6-foot-7 forward wrapping up his final season in NUNS, he reflected on his journey from barely seeing play off the bench to becoming an essential player.
As he explained, “Everyone needs to be worked on. My current position, even those who know about it, during my first year, I was at a bank, and I didn’t have a single minute to spare. However, I treated that as a learning opportunity.”
I watch them during study sessions, at movies; I keep my focus on the board. In my second year, I started translating a little bit but wasn’t consistent about it. By my third year, everyone noticed, and I contributed regularly to the group.
Without any doubt, Palanca shared his wish to remain in Jhocson, continuing to be under the vigilant eye of renowned coach Jeff Napa.
“I’ll just stay for now. I’ll do what I did during my first year as a junior: focus on learning, learning, and more learning,” he said.
Although he can proudly claim that he rose through the ranks during his years in high school, the native of Agusan del Norte expects a higher degree of competition when he reaches college. He states, “I’ll see what their physicality is like because they say in college, it’s all about IQ. If you really observe, the freshmen dominate mostly with sheer strength. But for the seniors, it’s true skill that counts.”
Given all the hurdles coming up, National U’s tight-knit program appears not to pose an adjustment issue for him, since he has already established relationships with important Bulldogs who even showed up at Game 3.
“They’re there, Reinhard [Jumamoy], my companions. During our rehearsals, we reach up to the university level, so I engage in conversations with them. Sometimes, I am right alongside them,” he explained.