MARK Barroca is indeed, one tough cookie.
The veteran guard played through the pain of a dislocated finger to help rally Magnolia past Converge, 109-105, to notch a second straight win in the PBA Commissioner's Cup.
Barroca, 36, went down with the injury in the third quarter when his left pinky got stuck in the jersey of Converge import Quincy Miller.
He had to be taken out of the game briefly to have the injured finger treated, but came back a few minutes later to spearhead the Hotshots' comeback victory.
"Pag switch namin sa import, pag-ikot ko, hindi ko nakita, sumabit ako sa jersey ng import," he recalled on when and how he injured his finger.
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"Pag close out ko, sumabit. Ang bilis ng pangyayari. No.7 na yung daliri ko," was how Barroca described the injured pinky. "At least bumalik, pero bumaluktot."
Instead of wallowing in the corner, the injury fired up Barroca even more.
"Ayokong mag-ice kasi maglalaro pa, magna-numb, e. Wala akong mapi-feel," he said. "Kapag ite-tape, hindi ako sanay. Siguro pagkatapos na lang ng laro," he said.
"Puwede pa naman. May apat pa na daliri."
Notwithstanding the injured finger, Barroca scored 11 of his 19 points during the third quarter to keep the Hotshots in the game, before import Nick Racocevic took over in the stretch to deliver the win for the team.
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Barroca never doubted he'll still be able to comeback and play despite the third quarter incident.
"Siguro throughout ng career ko, yung mga ganitong napag-daanan ko, yung mga ganito, siguro nasanay na ako," said the Magnolia playmaker. (RG)
