Quentin Millora-Brown (right) grabs 19 rebounds for the Maroons as they advance to the finals, where a successful season will give him a shot at the UAAP title. —Contributed photo.
The University of the Philippines waited all season for another chance at redemption. The Fighting Maroons are just two wins away from that long-awaited goal.
The Maroons didn’t need to pull out their double card to secure the top spot in the finals of the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament after convincingly defeating the University of Santo Tomas 78-69 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.
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“We took to heart what happened to us last season and I believe that this year it all started from the first day of our training,” said coach Goldwin Monteverde. “Our goal was to win one game at a time and now we have reached the final.”
UP has now moved into title contention for the fourth straight year, winning the championship on its first attempt in Season 84, ending a 36-year wait as the Maroons wait for an opponent, with defending champions La Salle and Adamson in the other half are playing the Final Four at press time. The Green Archers have a unique victory advantage over the Soaring Falcons.
The Fighting Maroons lost the title series to La Salle and now two-time MVP Kevin Quiambao. Previously, UP fell to Ateneo after winning Game 2, and the Maroons will do everything they can to be on the winning side this time.
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“Fix the fire”
“(Our losses in previous seasons) fuel the fire within us,” Harold Alarcon, who scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half as the Fighting Maroons took charge, told the Inquirer in Filipino. “We are doing a lot to prepare for the championship again and I am confident that as a team we can show what we can do and that we can put up a good fight in the final.”
“It’s a best-of-three series, so we’re looking forward to getting ready to do our best in the (championship) series,” Monteverde said.
“For me, it’s all about winning, no matter what it takes,” Quentin Millora-Brown said after grabbing 19 rebounds and blocking four shots from Santo Tomas. “Everyone has to improve. Everyone knows that sacrifices have to be made and you just have to be willing to do whatever it takes.
“It was a hard-fought game for us, the coaches prepared us for what we had to do,” said the experienced big man. “They said from the beginning that there would be a war there. We still have two games ahead of us that we have to commit to.”
The Growling Tigers managed to keep up with their more experienced opponents and even led 35-33 at halftime before the Maroons finally found their feet and were able to build a comfortable cushion of up to 11 points.
Gallant effort
Santo Tomas tried valiantly to make up for the deficit, but Francis Lopez, Alarcon and Reyland Torres kept the Tigers at bay. Lopez led the Maroons with 16 points and six rebounds, and Torres had 13 points aside from seven rebounds.
After putting a shaky first half behind him, Alarcon, who scored a career-high 33 points, took over UP in the final elimination game against the University of the East.
“I admit that I pushed it a lot in the first half, so the game went in my favor. So I adjusted in the second half, used what they gave me and just found a way,” Alarcon said.
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“I felt like they were a little tense in the first half. Sometimes it’s like that in our desire to win,” explained Monteverde. “Sometimes you rush it, but in the second half I think they trusted each other more and understood that there will be challenges, so we have to play together.”