WAR FAR FROM OVER: Maroons brace for huge Archers fightback

The mission is still far from over despite University of the Philippines’ masterful 73-65 win over De La Salle University in Game 1 of their University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 men’s basketball tournament best-of-three finals series.

Fighting Maroons’ playmaker JD Cagulangan stressed that they will not relax until they accomplish their goal of regaining the trophy that they last held in 2021.

Cagulangan and the Fighting Maroons delivered a brilliant performance in Game 1 late Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to move a heartbeat away from winning the crown.

The seasoned Cagulangan, who is being remembered as the court general who knocked down the game-winning three-pointer that led to their first title in nearly 40 years in Season 84, fired 13 points while expertly dictating the tempo of the game.

Quentin Millora-Brown also delivered, firing a personal-best 17 points on 7-of-11 field goal shooting while Jacob Bayla applied suffocating defense of La Salle superstar Kevin Quiambao to hold him to a single point after knocking down 18 markers in the first two quarters.

Overall, it was a solid performance for UP, which raised a lot of doubts early on after sputtering in the eliminations, including a pair of setbacks to La Salle.

Still, Cagulangan said their impressive win will be worthless if they will not wrap up the series on Wednesday at the same Cubao venue.

“As coach (Goldwin Monteverde) said, the series is not over after winning Game 1. We’ll go back to the gym and train and, of course, stay ready because La Salle will surely make some key adjustments,” Cagulangan said.

“We’ll always be ready for the challenges that we will face in Game 2.”

‘There’s a reason why this is a series. You don’t win the championship by winning one game — you need two games.’

La Salle coach Topex Robinson is also aware that the war is not yet over.

In fact, he is no stranger to having a slow start in a finals series after being buried in a 0-1 hole when they won the crown over the Fighting Maroons last year.

“There’s a reason why this is a series. You don’t win the championship by winning one game — you need two games,” said Robinson, sounding upbeat and optimistic despite absorbing a setback that exposed some of their weaknesses.

“So we still have a chance. After all, we’ve been in this situation before.”

Winning the UAAP title will not just spark a huge celebration among members of the UP community. It will also be a major boost to Cagulangan’s career is he is expected to join the professional ranks next year.

Sideliners said Cagulangan is being eyed to reinforce a Korean club as soon as his stint with the Fighting Maroons is over.

But the 24-year-old guard said he wants to walk into the “next level of his career” with a shiny golden crown on his head.

“I’m very thankful and this (UAAP crown) will be a huge boost to me personally, especially since I’m already entering the next phase of my career,” Cagulangan said.

“So yeah, I’m very thankful and, hopefully, we win it.”

Monteverde agrees with the statement of his chief orchestrator, stressing that one game doesn’t give them the championship.

“Well, I guess, Game 1 doesn’t win us a championship,” the soft-spoken mentor said.

“But definitely, winning Game 1 is part of the process. And since we’re already here, we have to focus on the things we need to improve on, especially in terms of lapses. We have to be prepared for the next game.”