Zavier Lucero has continued to raise his game as the days go by in the UAAP Season 84 Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Highlighting again why he was such a prized recruit for University of the Philippines, the former California State University Maritime Academy student had 27 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, and three steals in 32:43 minutes of action in UP’s 83-76 win over Far Eastern University.
But against the Tamaraws, Lucero only wanted to provide a spark for the Fighting Maroons.
“Like coach (Goldwin Monteverde) said, we started out, pretty much a lot of that first half, probably should have been down more than we were the way we were playing. We went into halftime then we didn’t want to go into the second round on a loss,” said Lucero.
“We came out and I thought that we played really well in the second half. We got out to a strong start and then our guys just made plays in the fourth quarter to keep them at bay. It was big.”
Lucero, who had a big second-half performance, sank the three-point shot that set the Fighting Maroons on their way to victory with a 76-70 lead at the 1:50 mark of the final period. His outstanding contributions throughout the game provoked ‘MVP’ chants from the UP faithful who watched in the venue,
For him, though, these cheers are premature especially since anything up a first UAAP title since 1986 will be considered a disappointment.
“It’s flattering but, as I said, we have one goal in this team. Everybody has the same goal. That’s what’s special about us. There are no individual accolades that are gonna make a difference if we aren’t able to do what we set out to do,” said the 6-foot-6 forward, who is averaging 15.29 points, 8.29 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.9 assists per game so far.
“As long as we stay focused on our goal, I like where we’re at.”
Ever the team player, Lucero is eager to share the spotlight with his teammates.
After an opening-day loss at the hands of defending champions Ateneo de Manila University, which saw the 22-year-old swingman produce just two measly points in close to 19 minutes of action, UP has won six straight matches for the first time since 2004.
It is as if the Fighting Maroons’ rise this season coincided with the growth of the Filipino-American cager in the collegiate league.
“I’m getting open looks more than some other guys, which is allowing me to be on the scoreboard. As far as I personally, I don’t do much on my own. I get set up by my guys a lot,” he said.
“Whether it’s a screen like Carl (Tamayo) hit, he got my guy off that screen for the last three I hit, Maimai (Cagulangan) is usually finding me in places. It’s just our team is really growing and our chemistry is growing and you can see it on our offensive end.”
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