The UP Fighting Maroons share the spotlight to clinch their fourth straight UAAP finals appearance in one go against the UST Growling Tigers.
The UP Fighting Maroons found their groove with teamwork, as they used one of their patented third quarter runs to book their fourth straight finals appearance--beating the UST Growling Tigers, 78-69, in the Final Four of UAAP Season 87 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.
After trading runs with the much-improved Espa
ña squad led by head coach Pido Jarencio, UP found its rhythm with a scorching 21-4 run in the third canto that flipped the script on the upset-seeking UST.
For head coach Goldwin Monteverde, it was about finding patience and trust in each other that helped the solve the UST puzzle, despite going down by six points, 34-40, early in the third quarter.
“Minsan kasi, syempre nung first half, I felt na medyo... we played tense nang konti. Minsan ganun, sa sobrang gusto natin na manalo, medyo nagmamadali. Sa second half, they trusted each other more,” said Monteverde.
“Mas naintindihan namin na we should play together, which is nangyari naman nung third quarter.”
True enough, UP’s teamwork showed in the stat sheet with 10 different Fighting Maroons scoring in the convincing victory. They also finished with 16 assists, moving the ball well in the process.
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But with two more games needed to win that elusive crown for the Diliman squad, Monteverde said that it is something that they’ve been preparing for since the start of the season.
“Sa amin naman, from the last season, yung nangyari sa last season, we took that to heart sa first practice pa lang. We as a team, ‘yung goal namin is to take it one game at a time. Ngayon, nandito na kami,” said the UAAP champion coach.
“'Yan ang maganda sa finals, mag-start kami ng 0-0. It’s a best-of-3 series, [and] we’re looking forward to preparing and playing our best.” he added.
UP now waits for the winner between the other Final Four matchup between the Adamson Soaring Falcons and the DLSU Green Archers. The Green Archers hold a twice-to-beat advantage in their match later Saturday.