No one would’ve expected David slaying Goliath at this point of the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament where every win is critical in the race for No. 1 ranking in the Final Four.

La Salle and University of the Philippines (UP) have been left to contest that spot—and what should be the lightest assignment in the semifinals, the No. 4 team—before the Fighting Maroons suffered an unlikely blowout loss to National University (NU), 67-47, on Sunday night.

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“I’m not gonna take anything away from NU, they played good defense against us tonight,” UP coach Goldwin Monteverde said after the Maroons absorbed just their second loss in 11 games.

“Being the opposing team, if you are being defended well, it should call for a better execution on our part,” Monteverde added. “We had some open shots still, but then again, we were not making it.”

UP had a horrendous shooting day by connecting on only 26.2 percent of its tries from the field as the Maroons were forced by the Bulldogs, who sit at the bottom of the standings despite rising to a 3-8 card, to 30 turnovers.

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Making matters worse for UP was that the Bulldogs translated that to 23 points.

“Sometimes it really happens, but we don’t want to [make that a reason], we’ll work on it before the next game,” Monteverde said.

Holding a premium

And that should be top priority for the Maroons with their next assignment being the Green Archers, their Finals conquerors last season and the first team to put a blemish on the record at the end of the first round.

Finishing No. 1 holds a premium as there are still several sides jockeying for the No. 4 spot, which could turn out to be a very fatigued team when classification is over with.

“I believe that these kinds of games should make us stronger also, learning from this, preparing us for bigger teams,” Monteverde said even as he would obviously eye payback against La Salle and vault back in the running for top ranking.

“What’s important is when we approach every game, we need to be prepared and have the mindset of executing on both ends,” Monteverde said.

“Aside from being players, these are human beings also, so sometimes there are [bad] days which I think would teach somebody character-wise how to keep up or endure whatever comes your way,” he said.

La Salle scored a 68-56 victory in the first round, with a repeat win ensuring the Green Archers of No. 1.

“I think [we have] that same mindset for every game, whether it’s La Salle, NU, or Adamson because every game for us will be like a championship game … we demand to give the best that we could every game,” he added. INQ