The Terrafirma Dyip were rolling on Saturday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, and that sparked them to a 146-127 triumph over the Macau Giant Pandas. The Dyip, in the win, set a quartet of franchise scoring records—most points in a quarter (42), most points in a half (77), most points through three (115), and most points scored in a game (146).
Terrafirma Competed
But more than setting franchise records, Terrafirma also kept its dimming PBA Governors’ Cup playoff hopes alive as it improved to 4-6 and kept solo fifth place in Group B. The Dyip, as of this writing, are two losses behind fourth-running Converge FiberXers—and a defeat away from outright elimination. Even so, Terrafirma still has a mathematical chance to make it to the next round, which is why Coach Ronald Tubid wants his squad to not stop competing.
“In our tough loss against TNT [Tropang 5G], hindi kami ‘yun kasi we always compete. Nung first and second quarters, andun pa kami against TNT but nawala (in the second half). I don’t know if it’s just rust [from the long break],” said Tubid after the game. “Ang mantra namin sa team namin is compete. As long as we do that, may chances kaming manalo.”
On Saturday, the Dyip competed, as Tubid wants. Yes, it was against the woefully short-handed and hapless Giant Pandas, but it was a good start nonetheless for a homestretch where Terrafirma needs to win all of its games.
One Game at a Time
At this point, Terrafirma has no room for error. It also needs help from the other teams. The Dyip’s goal, of course, is to win their remaining two games—against the San Miguel Beermen on October 14 and the Titan Ultra Giant Pandas on October 17. At the same time, they will need Converge and TNT to stop winning.
That’s probably a long shot. Regardless, Tubid wants Terrafirma to follow through on their mantra to always compete.
“One game at a time. As long as may mga games pa, we need to keep on competing lang,” Tubid emphasized.
That mantra will be tested big time in a couple of days, as the Dyip will be taking on a San Miguel side coming off a loss.
