At long last, University of the East finally scored a win.
The Red Warriors were emotional about their win against the Arellano University in the 2022 FilOil EcoOil Preseason Cup, Tuesday in San Juan City.
It was their first win since October 30, 2019 — a 79-77 win over National University in the UAAP.
“Ngayon congratulations before kasi good game lang, puro good game lang coach, good game. Well, sabi ko nga sa mga boys, it’s been like 17 losses already, 14 nung last season 84, and then three games dito sa FilOil (Preseason Cup),” said UE head coach Jack Santiago, who also notched his first-ever win as Red Warriors mentor.
“This Preseason tournament is a big help for us ‘cause we know naman that we lost a lot of key players before ‘no? Especially si Alex Diakhite those players na nag-graduate na, and right now we’re a working progress.”
UE was in a 0-14 winless campaign in the UAAP season 84, plus they started their Preseason Cup with a 0-3 record before the Arellano match.
Back in UAAP Season 82, the Recto school still had the likes of Rey Suerte, Alex Diakhite, and Paul Manalang.
Also, the 6-foot guard Harvey Pagsanjan was still a rookie in that game.
Pagsanjan was emotional about the win against the Chiefs. As one of the leaders of the team, he carried a lot of responsibility for it.
“Very emotional si Harvey (Pagsanjan) [ngayon] kasi everyday, every practice namin talagang binibigay namin sa kanya ‘yung responsibility,” explained the former De La Salle and Adamson lead assistant as to why Pagsanjan was emotional on the win.
“I know it’s hard for him on his side because remember si Harvey, kahit ano sabihin natin we still consider him as a rookie pa rin. ‘Cause nung nakuha siya nung UE, bata pa siya noon eh and then two years tayo nabakante without any program ‘no,” he added.
Pagsanjan was recruited in UE back in 2019 when Joe Silva was still the head coach.
The players were happy knowing the win was another step towards bringing back the winning culture of the players.
“Siguro ‘yun nga kailangan talaga namin manalo. Sobrang sarap sa feeling na na- nakuha namin ‘yung first win namin.” shared Pagsanjan.
“Hopefully, hopefully sana mag tuloy-tuloy na and sana eto na ‘yung start ng bago ako pumunta ng UE gusto ko mabalik ‘yung winning culture ng UE, so hopefully eto na ‘yung simula ng lahat.”
Antiporda was one of Pagsanjan’s teammates who entered the Red Warriors the same year as him was joyful on their first win, and knows the team has the potential to win more games.
Pagsanjan and the Red Warriors will value this win but they will be reunited with a former comrade, Clint Escamis, on August 5 as UE goes up against Mapua University.
“Pero alam naman namin talaga sa sarili namin na kaya naman talaga namin. Minsan kinukulang lang ‘yung sa mga games lalo mga close-up games, pero masaya na nanalo kami. Kasi, tinrabaho naman namin everyday sa practice eh, and ‘yun very long time na nga na di kami nanalo, so masaya kami, masaya kami lahat sa team,” said Antiporda.
“So, magandang baon to kasi panalo kami this game and siguro ‘yung experience ngayon sa game na ‘to madala namin sa next game kalaban Mapua, so ‘yun siguro mas magiging maganda laban namin.”
