UP transferee about to step into his first UAAP post-season in his career.
Gani Stevens finally had his coming out party for the UP Fighting Maroons in their Final Four-clinching win over the Adamson Soaring Falcons, 70-59, in the second round of UAAP Season 87 on Sunday afternoon.
Finishing with 10 points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting night, Stevens provided quality minutes from the bench after UP’s starters struggled early on against the Soaring Falcons.
Having moved on from the UE Red Warriors in his first year to pursue bigger things in the UAAP, Stevens is glad to be moving in the right direction as he heads to his first-ever semis with UP.
“Obviously, it’s my first year. So you know that year off I had was definitely hard not playing in the UAAP. So, I’ve just been trying to find that rhythm I’ve had, getting adjusted and I think it’s nice finally, you know, I’ve been working hard these past two weeks,” said Stevens after the game.
“[I’ve been] really focusing on our defense, running and executing and I think what we ran in practice translates to the game. Obviously, it’s my first time being in the Final Four so I’m really excited. But like JD (Cagulangan) said, we’re just trying to be composed and we know that this isn’t our final goal. Our final goal is a championship.” he added.
Playing on sparingly for UP head coach Goldwin Monteverde’s big man rotation, Stevens has been patient for his moment with the Fighting Maroons.
And the moment couldn’t have come at a better time — as he played a key role in assuring UP’s seat in the semis for Season 87.
After months of hard work, the role player was delighted to see his efforts finally pay off. More than anything, Stevens had his teammates to thank for his big game, mostly for making him realize what he can do.
“It feels good [having this kind of game], you know, it’s definitely something that I can use to kind of prove myself and it’s been easy, you know, my teammates have been supportive of me, all my coaches,” he said.
“They’ve been working me off the court after practices, because they know what I can do. It was just them trying to pull it out of me. Find that fire I had and just bring it to the games, I’ve just been trying to do that. It’s been all my teammates supporting me so, that’s been really helpful.”
As the long season draws on, it would be beneficial for UP to be able to rely on Stevens for more of these games later on. With more challenges to come — including rivalry games against Ateneo and La Salle, there’s more opportunities for him to grow.
“Obviously, I think there’s a lot of room for improvement, I would’ve liked to have this start at the beginning of the first round but you know, just from here, we’re hoping to continue to have an upward trend to the championship, or Final Four, that’s where I’m starting to peak,” said the big man.
“But I’m just continuing to work hard off the court and just listen to my coaches and my teammates.”
Now riding back-to-back wins and six straight Final Four appearances Stevens and the rest of the Fighting Maroons plunge right back into action on Wednesday, October 30, when they face the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
The Battle of Katipunan tips off at 6:30 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.