Losing Game 1 against La Salle doesn’t translate to a death sentence, University of the Philippine (UP) head coach Goldwin Monteverde said the day after Jacob Cortez and the Green Archers shot their way to a 74-70 victory in Season 88 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball best-of-three finals.

Fighting Maroons head coach Goldwin Monteverde hopes the heartbreaking loss at the Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday night should make his players realize that it is mandatory that they bounce back in Game 2 on Sunday.

Harold Alarcon pumped in a career-high 34 points but the Diliman-based team just faded away, leaving Monteverde with no other choice but to equalize.

 “This is also part of the challenge we’re facing now. So far, I’m confident. I really trust the team that they will bounce back from this,” said Monteverde, who is in his fifth UAAP finals with the Maroons since 2022.  

“We just lost a battle, the war is not over yet. We still have two games left, we’re still positive about it.”

With Francis Nnoruka being the only other Maroon to reach double digits with 13 points, Monteverde is calling on the other seniors to step up to the plate.

Should they win, Game 3 will be on 17 December at the same Pasay venue.

“Whatever Harold did for us for this game, we need that. It’s just that as a team, we need to contribute,” Monteverde said.

“I guess as a team, being able to adjust to what La Salle is doing to us, I think that will be part of the adjustment.”

“I believe that there were certain parts of the game that we played well, but then we just need to be consistent about what we’re doing on both ends.”

Seasoned players Reyland Torres and Gerry Abadiano were held to single digits, hitting eight and seven points, respectively.

Big men Sean Alter, Gani Stevens and Jacob Bayla were held scoreless in the Game 1 loss despite getting heavy minutes.

Luckily for UP fans, this isn’t the Maroons’ first rodeo.

After all, they started the season with two straight losses before re-establishing themselves as title favorites this year.

“We just have to play better than this, for one. Second, we have to try to find out our lapses,” Monteverde said.

“It is not the first time we lost, just reminding ourselves that we even started this season at 0-2.”

It’s now or never for UP.