By JEREMIAH SEVILLA
SMART CLARK GIGA CITY ‒ Beau Belga was extra motivated on Tuesday night.
Belga admitted a netizen’s criticism of his playstyle brought out the best in him as he towed Rain or Shine to an 85-82 overtime win over Barangay Ginebra at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena.
“This morning kasi, meron akong isang motivation. Isang hater binabatikos ako sa social media, puro pananakit lang daw ang ginagawa ko sa PBA. And I just want to prove it (otherwise) tonight,” he said.
The 6-foot-5 big man racked up a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds to go with four assists, two steals and a block.
The two-time PBA champion sank a booming triple that gave the Elasto Painters an 83-78 lead in the extension period as they bounced back from a bitter 88-89 loss to Alaska and moved to No. 2 with a 4-1 record.
Belga said he badly wanted to show that he’s more than the tough player that people think of him.
“May nabasa akong ganun na galing sa hindi ko naman kilalang tao tapos ija-judge ako ng ganun na syempre medyo masakit dahil nilalaro mo lang ‘yung laro mo tapos mahuhusgahan ka na ng ganun katindi,” he said.
“Gusto ko lang talaga manalo and to prove myself kung ano yung worth ko dito sa liga, kung ano ‘yung kakayahan ko, kung ano ‘yung mga pwede ko pang gawin aside dun sa pagiging bruiser ko, sa sinasasabi nila sakin na pagiging tirador ko. Naging maganda outcome. Very thankful ako na na-motivate nya ko.”
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 85 — Belga 20, Borboran 13, Yap 12, Nambatac 8, Rosales 8, Onwubere 3, Norwood 3, Ponferada 2, Wong 0, Torres 0.
GINEBRA 82 — Thompson 21, Pringle 20, Aguilar J. 13, Tenorio 10, Devance 6, Caperal 5, Mariano 3, Chan 2, Dillinger 2, Tolentino 0.
Quarters: 24-15, 45-36, 61-57, 76-76 (Reg), 85-82 (OT).
