University of the Philippines turned into the Cramming Maroons once again on Sunday.
In their first matchup since the UAAP Season 85 Men’s Basketball Finals, the Fighting Maroons found themselves down by seven with barely five minutes left in the fourth quarter against their arch-rival, Ateneo de Manila University.
However, the previously undefeated UP fought back, holding the Blue Eagles scoreless in the final four minutes and 26 seconds of regulation. Then Francis Lopez and Reyland Torres made the much-needed baskets to send the game to overtime.
Nevertheless, Ateneo was the more composed team in overtime, winning 99-89 in front of 12,122 fans at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, handing the Fighting Maroons their first loss of the season.
While head coach Goldwin Monteverde acknowledged his team’s ability to come back from deficits, he emphasized that these bursts of urgency should not be sporadic.
“Yung effort is there but we need to learn and grow in such a way na we could do that the whole game,” said Monteverde after the match.
“Nakita ko naman yung lamang ang Ateneo ng seven points humabol pa kami but we just need to be consistent about doing things.”
UP captain CJ Cansino echoed Monteverde’s sentiments and lamented how his team failed to recognize their shortcomings in previous games simply because they had won those games.
The Fighting Maroons won by an average of 20.25 points against Adamson University, University of the East, National University, and University of Santo Tomas.
However, they had to dig deep to defeat the seventh-ranked Far Eastern University 80-76 in overtime, as well as to escape with a 67-64 victory against De La Salle University.
“Medyo kulang pa kasi for the past games namin yun lagi nagiging problema namin, hinihintay muna naming may sumapak muna sa amin bago kami sumapak,” said the senior winger from UST.
“Mas nalungkot ako dahil hindi kami natututo sa mga past games namin dahil nananalo kami. Hopefully, itong talo namin mas matuto kami para mas mabuti sa second round.”
UP will have an opportunity for redemption when they start the second round against the Soaring Falcons on Wednesday.
