Trust stays intact for Francis Lopez after missed FTs in UP's Game 2 loss vs La Salle

University of the Philippines head coach Goldwin Monteverde insisted that his trust for Francis Lopez is intact following his missed free throws in the endgame of the Fighting Maroons’ 76-75 Game 2 defeat against De La Salle University in their best-of-three finals series in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament.

For the fourth straight season, UP is headed to a winner-take-all Game 3 even after drawing first blood in all occasions, twice before against Ateneo de Manila University in Seasons 84 and 85. 

There, at the same venue of Mall of Asia Arena in 2022, the Diliman based squad ended a 36-year title drought in Season 84 anchored by JD Cagulangan’s game-winning triple in overtime. 

But on Wednesday, the sophomore forward Lopez came up short of four free throws to steer UP to another championship feat. 

“It all boils down to the last game. 'Pag pinupuntahan namin siya, ‘yung trust namin sa kaniya malaki. Each member naman ng team would try their best to make shots or execute. But then, I assured them that ‘yung trust namin will always be there,” Monteverde said. 

Lopez, for his part, was quick to take accountability for his mistakes which included last-minute turnovers that could have been set up for potential game-winning plays since UP had the last possession to make it happen. 

“There’s no excuse. I just missed them. Can’t do anything but move on and still have a Game 3, still have another opportunity. Just gonna be focused on that,” Lopez said. “We’re just talking about that it’s not over, we still have Game 3. More days to prepare for Game 3, it’s a do-or-die game for both teams.”

“I believe we didn’t have any timeouts. We didn’t call any timeouts at the end, we were just looking for the open man. I had turnovers, we just couldn’t get it to Maimai [Cagulangan], and that’s about it,” Lopez explained. 

While UP managed to contain back-to-back reigning MVP Kevin Quiambao in the second half of Game 1 with only a single point, this time there was no stopping the La Salle star who poured 11 points in the payoff period highlighted by three closely-contested shots from long distance to turn things around for his side in Taft. 

“I think marami rin siya na-shoot na contested shots. I guess ‘yun na siguro ang kakaiba. ‘Yun ang importante sa dulo it’s all about making shots or missing shots. Just so happened na sila ‘yung naka-shoot,” Monteverde said. 

An added layer of pressure now hounds Monteverde and the Fighting Maroons, who have not followed up their historic Season 84 title run with another in two seasons, but the lessons of four consecutive Game 3 appearances might just make the difference as the series closes out on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. 

“Minsan it will go your way, it will not,” said Monteverde. 

“Minsan mananalo, minsan matatalo. Importante paano babangon. Alam naman namin na hindi pa naman tapos ‘yung series. We just have to keep our heads up, pagusapan, prepare and just get ready on Sunday. It has to take three games to win a championship. So we’ll do our best,” he concluded.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News