(UPDATE) MANILA, Philippines — Determined to avenge their last year’s Finals defeat to the De La Salle Green Archers, the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons started strong and finish stronger against the former to take Game One, 73-65, of the UAAP Season 87 best-of-3 Finals series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday.
Quentin Millora-Brown grabbed a career-best 17 points on top of nine rebounds as he spelled the difference for the Maroons, who look to finish off the Archers in Game Two on Wednesday.
Standing at 6-foot-10, Millora-Brown imposed his will in the second half where he poured 13 of his total points to turn the tide to the favor of UP, which played catch up for the most part of the first two frames.
Delivering the finishing touches were Gerry Abadiano who banged a triple before Harold Alarcon drilled two free throws and JD Cagulangan added one more in the last 14.2 to seal it for UP, which limited La Salle to just nine points in the third frame.
“We know that if we play La Salle, defense is really the key to win the game. I felt that in the second half we had more intensity defensively,” said Maroons coach Goldwin Monteverde.
“We communicated better. For me, it was a total team effort. Offensively, for me, we moved the ball much better in the second quarter and good thing that we sustained it until the second half.
Cagulangan finished with 13 points on top of five assists and two blocks to backstop Millora-Brown, while Francis Lopez also played a key role in the win with 13 points, six rebounds, and four blocks.
Kevin Quiambao scored 18 points in the first half but struggled in the second with just one as the Archers dipped in the second half just like the soon-to-be-crowned back-to-back MVP, who also pulled down 11 rebounds.
Mike Phillips amassed 17 points and 11 rebounds as EJ Gollena racked up 11 points and four rebounds.
Coached by Topex Robinson, the Archers look to repeat what they did last year to win the last two games and the title.
