Quentin Millora-Brown has gained even more motivation in his drive to lead the University of the Philippines back to the UAAP men’s basketball throne.
The 6-foot-10 center from The Citadel joined the Fighting Maroons as a one-and-done player primarily for one reason: his grandfather, who graduated from the UP College of Medicine in 1963.
His lolo, Dr. Angel Millora, passed away last week, prompting Millora-Brown to fly back to the United States for his grandfather’s wake.
“Absolutely passionate. I think it would be an amazing nod to him to be able to get the win. But, as I’ve said before – it’s one game at a time, it’s one practice at a time. We just have to keep improving,” said the big man, nicknamed ‘QMB.’
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
During his brief stay in the US, he missed UP’s game against De La Salle University, which the Green Archers won, 77-66.
Despite the obvious pain of yet another loss to La Salle, Millora-Brown shared that these setbacks would only make the Fighting Maroons stronger as they head into the Final Four.
“Of course, I watched it. I thought that the guys, we were right in it the whole time. Like everyone’s fighting for it. It’s always a heartbreaker to lose a game that you put so much passion into, but it’s a part of the game, right?” he said.
“You learn how to get better from it. Honestly, when you compete at that level, you learn so much more than you know, than when you’re not in that same situation,” he went on.
“There’s so much to draw from those games that will help us improve in the next two weeks as we get to the Final Four, as we play UE first, and then from there hopefully we’ll be able to learn from that loss to not lose.”
In his return to UP on Saturday, QMB made his presence felt with seven points and 13 rebounds.
He finished with a game-high plus-18 in his 26 minutes and 11 seconds on the floor against the FEU Tamaraws.
Now, Millora-Brown and the rest of the Fighting Maroons are determined to give it their all in the final month of the competition, making another push to return to the top of UAAP men’s basketball.
