University of the Philippines (UP) didn’t bury La Salle in a 30-point hole like it did in Game 1 last season, but the Fighting Maroons came up with more than enough fight and endgame smarts to get the job done on Sunday night.

The Maroons moved within a win of taking all the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament glory after beating the Green Archers for the first time this season, 73-65, at Smart Araneta Coliseum, and they know that it will all go for naught if they don’t get it right this time.

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“Game 1 doesn’t win a championship,” coach Goldwin Monteverde said after the victory witnessed by 16,202 screaming fans. “This is the process [and it starts] in getting Game 1.

“We are [in this situation again], so we’ll just have to focus on what we need to improve on in terms of our lapses [in this] game earlier and try to prepare for the next game.”

It’s a step toward the right direction for State U, which wants desperately to change the story of its last two seasons wherein they ended up short after ending a 36-year drought back in Season 84.

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And the Maroons will do what’s needed to avoid history repeating itself. That’s the aim, at least, but it’s easier said than done with the Green Archers known to never give up—like what happened last year.

“The series doesn’t end in Game 1, so we will go back and practice, and of course [La Salle] will adjust to what we’re doing,” graduating guard JD Cagulangan said in Filipino after shooting 13 points. “So we’re always ready for whatever challenges it is that we’ll face in Game 2.”

La Salle played a hot first half with Kevin Quiambao shooting 18 of his total, including a stretch where he had eight straight points from two triples and a step-back jumper, as the defending champion Archers wielded control.

EJ Gollena also had 11 points as La Salle sat on a 41-37 edge at the half.

But UP quickly turned things around with its suffocating defense that limited La Salle to just nine points in the third frame.

Quentin Millora-Brown made his presence felt in the paint with 17 points and nine rebounds. The one-and-done big man played a big part as the Maroons pulled away at the start of the payoff frame with an 11-4 run, eight of which coming from Millora-Brown.

Francis Lopez contributed 13 points, six rebounds and four blocks, while Gerry Abadiano added nine points and eight rebounds.

Lady Bulldogs triumph

Meanwhile, National University’s (NU) Karl Pingol scored 18 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs to a 72-71 nipping of defending champion University of Santo Tomas in the women’s best-of-three Finals.

She then waxed emotional after feeling how the Bulldogs stayed together in the face of adversity.

“We want to bring the championship back to NU,” Pingol told the Inquirer in Filipino. “They (senior players) said that we’re not just a team, we are a family; they get their strength to continue fighting from us.”

The Bulldogs came together to erase a 14-point third quarter deficit, and have two chances to close out the Tigresses and reclaim the title they lost last year. INQ