Onward and upward.
After seeing his career game go down the drain, Meralco guard CJ Cansino is relishing the opportunity to learn from the heartbreak of such a painful loss.
Cansino finished with a career-high 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting, to go with five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
He led the Bolts to a 96-91 lead with 27.1 seconds remaining.
But a 4-pointer by Rey Nambatac in the next possession, followed by a Cansino turnover that led to a layup by Jordan Heading, pushed TNT ahead by one, 97-96, with about 15 seconds to go.
On the other end, Cansino was whacked by Calvin Oftana on the arm on a block attempt, which would have pushed Meralco ahead. Nambatac then iced the game with a pair of free throws.
Cansino tried to fish for a foul from way beyond to try and tie the game, but his attempt missed.
‘Breaks of the game. Hindi ko pwedeng i-excuse na bata ako e. So, talagang ang experience na ito, ito yung experience na tatatak talaga sa akin,’ the sophomore guard told reporters.
‘Andun na e. So, sobrang regret din. Panoorin ko na lang yun film, kung ano pang kailangan kong gawin, pero learning experience talaga ito,’ he added.
Cansino blossomed into one of Meralco’s main guns this conference.
And on the must-win Game 5, he scored 17 of his total output in the fourth quarter.
He finished the semifinals with averages of 18.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.2 assists per game.
‘Ano eh, kita yung tiwala naman ng mga teammates ko, binibigyan nila sa akin. So talagang, syempre, as a young player na makikita mo yung tiwala ng mga kuya mo sayo talagang, yun yung nagbo-boost sa akin para lumakas yung loob ko na kunin yung mga crucial moments na ganun,’ he said.
‘Mabigat pero sobrang teaching moment sakin ito. Sobrang laking opportunity na binigay sa’kin na matuto ako sa ganitong bagay. Although hindi man namin nakuha yung panalo, pero on the good side, on the positive side, talagang sobrang laking tinuro sakin yung semis na ito.’
For his part, Meralco head coach Luigi Trillo heaped praises to his young guard.
‘Extremely proud of CJ. Without him. he was the one guy that kept us from struggling. Just the whole conference. He really upped his game from last conference. He’s gained 20 pounds. He’s a point of attack player,’ Trillo stressed.
‘I think he’s going to be the face, one of the faces of the league. Just very humble. He’s a humble guy. He got us on our back. We were down 10 in the 4th. We got the lead again. In the first half, we were down with [Chris Banchero] not being able to point some attack. He came in and did damage there.’
Meanwhile, the PBA has suspended one of the referees calling the shots on the game.
PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said that referee Jeff Tantay has been suspended after a crucial no-call in Cansino’s layup against Oftana.