MANILA, Philippines – The journey proved to be filled with low moments, but Lester Prosper stayed the course and finally earned that elusive win for Terrafirma.

The Dyip snapped their 25-game skid at last as Prosper erupted for 50 points to lift Terrafirma to a 124-114 overtime victory over NLEX on Friday, November 18.

Prosper eclipsed the previous franchise record of 49 points set by PJ Ramos in 2015 and added 19 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 block to steer the Dyip to their first win in nine months.

“You’ve got to be mentally strong to be in the PBA,” said Prosper. “I’ve said that over and over.”

“It is a physical league, on top of that, if you know the players that are coming here, you know how physical it is and you know the tactics and you just know the league, you have to be able to stay strong,” Prosper added.

The naturalized Indonesian big man started the conference with a bang as he eclipsed the 40-point mark in his first two games.

But those pair of dominant performances went for naught as the Dyip saw their slump continue.

Terrafirma then hit a new low in a 54-point thrashing at the hands of guest team Bay Area before a 21-point loss to Barangay Ginebra and a 31-point defeat to TNT followed.

Not even a 15-point lead could save the Dyip as Terrafirma blew it against NorthPort for a sorry 109-103 loss and officially crashed out of playoff contention for the 14th straight conference last November 12.

The Dyip once again squandered a double-digit cushion against the Road Warriors, this time a 17-point advantage, but Prosper came to the rescue and took over in the extra period by scoring half of their 14 overtime points.

“It means a lot [to our] morale. We’ve been taking a hit,” Prosper said.

“The games that we were losing, we were fighting, it is just that when it comes to the third quarter, we tend to be lackadaisical, including myself. Not that we’re not a fighting team, it is just that we have to learn how to win.”

Although set for an early vacation, Prosper is just glad to get the embattled franchise out of the rut.

“I feel that everybody was coming together, the chemistry was coming together. I wish we had a little more time, but obviously we do not. But you know, this is good,” Prosper said.

“We’re doing this here now and we’re coming together now. I’m glad that we could stop this funk that we were in, this losing streak. I’m happy that I could contribute to stop this.” – Rappler.com