In the biggest game yet of his collegiate career, Henry Galinato was a surprise starter in University of the Philippines’ 72-66 win over Ateneo de Manila University in game one of the UAAP Season 85 Men’s Basketball Tournament finals.
The one-and-done student-athlete was a persistent force in the paint as he tried to make life as hard as possible for the Blue Eagles‘ post players. In 11 minutes of play, he contributed six points and three rebounds to the State U cause.
“We’re just trying to see different match-ups and stuff,” said the Filipino-American big man out of Benedictine Mesa. “We wanted to see if I can provide a little more starting. I mean, it worked a little bit.”
“It started off in practice. I feel like we came in very hard in practice and the energy was really high. Coming into the game, it just carried over and we did what we did.”
Beforehand, Galinato averaged 4.31 points and 3.92 rebounds in 10 minutes of action prior to this game.
Ever the role player, he made sure that he played his part well and kept his cool. Remember – he was famously involved in an altercation with Ateneo’s Dave Ildefonso the last time both sides played each other.
“Coach (Goldwin Monteverde) was emphasizing composure in practice, so I feel like we just carried that over,” he said.
Now, UP is just one win away from sealing two consecutive crowns in the UAAP. If the Fighting Maroons finish the job, it will be the first time in school history that they will achieve such a feat.
The goal at hand is easy to mention, but doing so against an Ateneo team with its back against the wall under the tutelage of Tab Baldwin will be a very hard proposition to face.
“Win again,” said Galinato. “We expect to play as a team again.
“We played like a good team today – we passed the ball around, stayed composed. And we didn’t let our egos get to us, because this is really important for us the chance to go back-to-back.”
