DRAMA IN DUBAI: Grieving Ramirez shines for Giant Lanterns

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Brandon Ramirez played with a bleeding heart while leading Pampanga to an emotional 88-71 victory over Quezon Province in Game 1 of their Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) best-of-five finals series early Monday (Manila time) at the Al Nasr Club Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall here.

Ramirez, a bruising Filipino-Canadian forward, played with fire in his eyes, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds to power the Giant Lanterns to a crucial victory that put them closer to the MPBL title.

He said the passing of his father, Sonny, last week pushed him to work hard, knowing that he will be happy to see him win a professional title while representing his hometown.

“I’m hurting. My heart is still heavy,” said the 6-foot-4 Ramirez while trying his best to fight back the tears.

“My father just passed away just a couple of days ago and we still have Dubai. We have to come to Dubai and play two games and that never changed in my head. At the end of the day, my father would want me to go out here and play the game that we both love and grew up playing together. He inspired me so much in so many ways, not just basketball, but also in life. Credit to him. It’s been a tough week.”

Reigning Most Valuable Player Justin Baltazar was also at his best despite playing under the weather while Archie Concepcion churned in solid numbers to allow the Giant Lanterns to dictate the tempo heading into Game 2 of this race-to-three series on Tuesday at the same venue in this bustling desert city.

Baltazar notched 24 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and two steals while Concepcion tallied 14 points and three rebounds to atone for the ejection of star guard Encho Serrano, who got ejected after throwing an elbow at Huskers star Ljay Gonzales with 8:28 left in the second period and Pampanga ahead, 29-20.

Pampanga Gov. Dennis Pineda said he loves the effort shown by his wards.

“Even though we had a player ejected, our team never lost its focus,” said Pineda, who is also serving as the Giant Lanterns’ head coach.

‘I’m hurting. My heart is still heavy.’

“They did their best, we were able to recover on defense and we were able to adjust. I’m grateful to them because they showed the hearts of the Kapampangans with their performance tonight.”

Homegrown Rodel Gravera was the lone bright spot for Quezon, chalking 20 points, including five triples, three rebounds, two assists and a steal in just 16 minutes and 33 seconds of play while star Judel Fuentes made just three of 16 attempts and settled for eight points with six rebounds, three assists and 1 steal.

With the 6-foot-8 Baltazar and Ramirez patrolling the middle, the Giant Lanterns ruled the boards, 48-38, and outscored the Huskers inside the paint, 50-32.

Back-to-back triples by Gravera and Fuentes helped push Quezon to within 43-49 early in the third quarter, but Ramirez, Concepcion and Jeff Viernes joined forces to quell the rally, 57-43.

The Huskers were further hampered by poor free throw shooting, sinking only three of nine attempts. The Giant Lanterns converted 15 of 22 charities, highlighted by the perfect 6 for 6 performances of Baltazar and Concepcion.

Baltazar started hot, pouring in 12 points as Pampanga led, 24-20, after the first quarter. Concepcion then took over in the second quarter, dumping eight points in a 12-2 run that handed Pampanga a 47-32 spread.