Birthdays and semifinals do no mix well for College of Saint Benilde big man Shawn Umali.

Speaking after the Blazers' 72-91 loss in Game 1 of the semifnal of Season 101 of the National Collegiate Athletic Asociation (NCAA) men's basketball tournament on Tuesday, Umali said it was deja vu for him as he lost to the same team in the semifinals.

Back in Season 99, the 25-year-old Umali was still playing for Lyceum of the Philippines University when they were eliminated by San Beda, 82-72, in a do-or-die game.

The Lions would up winning their 23rd NCAA title.

"It was painful on my part since we would get eliminated on my birthday," said Umali, who scored 13 points for Saint Benilde.

"We had lapses on our defense. Our gameplan was sound so we need to fix ourselves."

Luckily for Umali, Saint Benilde still has a chance to tie the series on Friday, 5 December, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

"(Coach Charles Tiu) reminded us that the good thing about the format this year is we still have a chance to bounce back. That's why we have to go all-out on Friday," Umali said.