While they have a history playing together for San Miguel, Alex Cabagnot and Terrence Romeo are both dogs trying to do everything to win the game for their respective teams.
There were some tense moments between former teammates Terrence Romeo and Alex Cabagnot early in San Miguel’s 102-95 win over Converge in the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup quarterfinals.
After he sank a four-pointer in the face of Cabagnot, Romeo became more aggressive than usual on defense.
The flamboyant guard then inadvertently hit Cabagnot in the nape as the latter tried to get by him with a little over a minute left in the opening period.
The two were seen exchanging words after that, though it did not look like they were choice words against each other.
“Nasaan na 'yun? Si Terrence talaga o, nabatukan pa 'ko,” Cabagnot told reporters in jest after the match at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
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Cabagnot, who won two championships with Romeo back at San Miguel, did not make a big deal out of it.
“No, it's just heat of the moment. I don't know. Actually, I don't know what happened. After I shot the free throw, I totally forgot about it,” added the veteran playmaker, who shot the technical free throw after that very play.
“And I was still... kinukulit ko pa rin siya. I don't know what it was. I guess.. I don't know. Actually, I don't know.”
They were simply being competitors inside the court.
“Terrence is a competitor. And I'm also a competitor, too. So even though we have some history together--playing together, being on the same team winning championships, we also wanna compete,” he said.
“To me, it was nothing. Guguluhin ko nga siya ngayon, kung nandiyan pa siya. Bwisit siya. Pero naka-free throw ako. So OK lang.”
What matters to Cabagnot now, however is levelling the best-of-five series on Saturday, September 28 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“You know you gotta play 'em somewhere down the line. It's a lot easier to beat them three times than four. So, I think it plays in our favor, but it's still hard,” he said.
“They're still a great team. We're gonna go back to the drawing board. It was a close game so hopefully we could make some adjustments and on Saturday sa Araneta we can play well.”