Mark Nonoy admitted that emotions got the best of him after struggling from the field in De La Salle's 75-66 win against his former team University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP Season 84 men’s basketball tournament Tuesday, April 5.
Nonoy had a dismal showing in his first match against the Growling Tigers since joining the Taft-based squad two years ago after the infamous "Sorsogon bubble."
The Season 82 Rookie of the Year, who was limited to three points, sank a triple off a Deschon Winston assist with 20 seconds left in the third period for his lone field goal en route to a 61-44 lead.
He missed two more shots and registered 33.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
In almost 19 minutes of play, Nonoy fired blanks from the perimeter and had a lackluster 1-of-6 clip overall.
Nonoy said emotions took over as he was eager to compete and beat the Tigers and later realized that it was a costly mistake on his end.
"Medyo gigil siyempre ayaw kong magpatalo sa former team ko and 'yon nga, medyo nagkalat," said the 5-foot-8 combo guard. "Sabi nila coach (Derrick Pumaren) 'wag lang manggigil, gawin lang 'yong dapat pinapagawa sa amin. 'Yon lang 'yong ginawa ko pero gigil pa rin."
The Negros Occidental native speedster admitted that overexcitement also became a factor knowing that the UST-De La Salle matchup will be the curtain-raiser in the return of live audience at the MOA Arena since the league's two-year lull.
With Nonoy not having his day, Justine Baltazar once again led the Archers with 20 points, seven rebounds, and five assists while Kurt Lojera and rookie forward Emman Galman scored 15 and 13 points respectively.
" mindset ko nasobrahan siguro, nasobrahan sa gigil, nasobrahan sa excitement," said Nonoy. "Sabi nga nila coach, 'wag kong hanapin tira ko darating lang 'yon. Sobrang gigil lang talaga."